Related Experiment Video For Cancer
Updated: Aug 17, 2025
Time-Lapse 2D Imaging of Phagocytic Activity in M1 Macrophage-4T1 Mouse Mammary Carcinoma Cells in Co-cultures
Published on: December 14, 2019
Protocol for detecting macrophage-mediated cancer cell phagocytosis in vitro and in vivo
Chuan Xu1, Hong Wu2, Yiqiang Liu2
1Department of Oncology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, China; Integrative Cancer Center & Cancer Clinical Research Center, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610047, China; Department of Cancer Biology, Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC 27157, USA.
Abstract:
Here, we present optimized approaches to identify the efficiency of cancer cell phagocytosis by macrophages in vitro and in vivo. We describe the preparation and co-culture of macrophages and cancer cells, followed by in vitro phagocytosis assay using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, respectively. We then detail the establishment of xenograft tumor mouse model and the in vivo detecting of phagocytosis efficiency by flow cytometry and qRT-PCR. This protocol provides a convenient way to assess macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of cancer cells. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Xu et al.1.
