Transmigration of Leukocytes Across Epithelial Monolayers

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Cell Biology
• Inflammation Research

Background:

• Leukocyte migration across epithelial monolayers is crucial for inflammatory responses.
• This process is implicated in inflammatory conditions like Crohn's disease and asthma.
• Studying transepithelial migration is challenging due to model complexities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe two novel methods for assessing leukocyte transepithelial migration.
• To provide a more accurate model for studying leukocyte transmigration in vitro.
• To overcome technical challenges associated with coculture models of epithelial monolayers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a Transwell assay system to evaluate transepithelial migration.
• Developed a standard method measuring apical-to-basal epithelial cell migration.
• Created an "Inverted" Transwell assay for basal-to-apical leukocyte transmigration.

Main Results:

• The described methods allow for the assessment of leukocyte migration across epithelial barriers.
• The "Inverted" Transwell assay more closely recapitulates the in vivo process of leukocyte transmigration.
• These methods offer improved technical approaches for studying inflammatory cell trafficking.

Conclusions:

• Two Transwell-based methods were successfully developed to analyze transepithelial migration.
• The "Inverted" Transwell assay provides a more physiologically relevant model for studying leukocyte migration in inflammatory diseases.
• These techniques can advance the understanding of inflammatory responses involving epithelial barriers.