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Updated: Mar 18, 2026
Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting for Purification of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells from the Mouse Bone Marrow
Published on: November 4, 2016
Isolation of Splenic Dendritic Cells Using Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting
Simon J Tavernier1, Fabiola Osorio2, Sophie Janssens1
1Unit immunoregulation and mucosal immunology, VIB inflammation research center, Ghent, Belgium; GROUP-ID consortium, Ghent University and University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium; Department of respiratory medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Abstract:
The spleen is a vastly vasculated organ and consists of a complex organized network of innate and adaptive immune cells. This permits the specialized functions of the spleen such as antibacterial and antifungal immunity and iron metabolism among others (Mebius and Kraal, 2005). Different dendritic cell (DC) subsets reside in the spleen and can be defined by the expression of unique surface markers. These DC subsets are recognized to perform non-redundant functions in the immune system (Merad et al., 2013). In our recent study, we found that Inositol Requiring Enzyme (IRE)-1 is specifically activated in splenic CD8a+ DCs. Furthermore, loss of X-box binding protein (XBP)-1 - the transcription factor regulated by IRE-1 - resulted in defective cross-presentation of dead cell associated antigens by splenic CD8a+ DCs (Osorio et al., 2014). This protocol allows the isolation of specific DC subsets for experimental use ex-vivo.
