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Updated: Jan 16, 2026
Proteomic Analysis of Human Macrophage Polarization Under a Low Oxygen Environment
Published on: January 7, 2019
Profiling of Macrophage Polarization Using Automated Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Simon Loevenich1, Vu To Nakstad1, Hanne Hein Trøen1
1Department of Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, SINTEF Industry, Trondheim, Norway.
Insights
This study details isolating human monocytes and polarizing them into M1 and M2 macrophage phenotypes. Cytokine levels are measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for immunology research.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Macrophage activation is crucial in immune responses.
- Macrophages polarize into distinct functional phenotypes (M1 and M2) based on environmental cues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline a protocol for isolating human primary CD14+ monocytes.
- To describe the polarization of these monocytes into M1 and M2 macrophage phenotypes.
Main Methods:
- Isolation of human primary CD14+ monocytes.
- Induction of M1 (pro-inflammatory) and M2 (anti-inflammatory) macrophage polarization.
- Detection of cytokine levels via manual and automated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA).
Main Results:
- Successful isolation of human CD14+ monocytes.
- Demonstrated polarization of monocytes into M1 and M2 phenotypes.
- Quantification of cytokine profiles associated with each phenotype using ELISA.
Conclusions:
- Provides a reproducible method for generating distinct human macrophage phenotypes in vitro.
- Enables the study of macrophage polarization in various immunological contexts.
- Facilitates the analysis of cytokine production for understanding immune signaling.
Abstract:
Macrophage activation has emerged as a key area in immunology, in which they are polarized to adopt different functional phenotypes in response to various environmental signals. Here, we describe the procedure of isolating human primary CD14+ monocytes and polarization toward M1 (pro-inflammatory) and M2 (anti-inflammatory) phenotypes. Relevant cytokine levels can be detected by manual and automated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA).
