Isolation and Activation of Murine Lymphocytes

B and T cells, with their extremely diverse antigen-receptor repertoires, have the ability to mount specific immune responses against almost any invading pathogen^1,2. Understandably, such intricate abilities are controlled by a large number of molecules involved in various cellular processes to ensure timely and spatially regulated immune responses³. Here, we describe experimental procedures that allow rapid isolation of highly purified murine lymphocytes using magnetic cell sorting technology. The resulting purified lymphocytes can then be subjected to various in vitro or in vivo functional assays, such as the determination of lymphocyte signaling capacity upon stimulation by immunoblotting⁴ and the investigation of proliferative abilities by ³H-thymidine incorporation or carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) labeling^5-7. In addition to comparing the functional capacities of control and genetically modified lymphocytes, we can also determine the T cell stimulatory capacity of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in vivo, as shown in our representative results using transplanted CFSE-labeled OT-I T cells.