Identification of Immune Cells in Murine Olfactory Mucosa

Olfactory immunology is an emerging field in the context of infectious disease and neuroimmunology, yet characterization of immune cells within the murine olfactory mucosa remains sparse. This is partially due to the difficulty in distinguishing olfactory-resident immune cells from immune cells that reside within nasal turbinate bone marrow. Using techniques like intranasal antibody labeling, we have developed methods to definitively identify olfactory immune cells via flow cytometry and immunofluorescent confocal microscopy. This protocol will describe the best practices for these methods, as well as detail how intravenous antibody labeling can be used to study the blood-olfactory barrier, an important determinant of olfactory immunity. We also include validated markers for the identification of major olfactory immune populations.