Studies in mice have advanced our understanding of the contribution of monocytes to inflammation and immunity. However, the lack of a straightforward and reliable method for the isolation of mouse blood monocytes remains a hurdle. Here we describe a fast and easy method for isolating monocytes from mouse blood based on immuno-magnetic labeling. By negative selection we were able to isolate enriched fractions (>50% purity) of unlabeled monocytes. A subsequent positive selection step resulted in purities of > or =90% viable and functional monocytes. This method is of general use for studying mouse monocyte biology.
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