Cell Sorting Approach Research Articles

Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) of Drosophila hemocytes reveals important functional similarities to mammalian leukocytes.

Drosophila is a powerful model for molecular studies of hematopoiesis and innate immunity. However, its use for functional cellular studies remains hampered by the lack of single-cell assays for hemocytes (blood cells). Here we introduce a generic method combining fluorescence-activated cell sorting and nonantibody probes that enables the selective gating of live Drosophila hemocytes from the lymph glands (larval hematopoietic organ) or hemolymph (blood equivalent). Gated live hemocytes are analyzed and sorted at will based on precise quantitation of fluorescence levels originating from metabolic indicators, lectins, reporters (GFP and beta-galactosidase) and antibodies. With this approach, we discriminate and sort plasmatocytes, the major hemocyte subset, from lamellocytes, an activated subset present in gain-of-function mutants of the Janus kinase and Toll pathways. We also illustrate how important, evolutionarily conserved, blood-cell-regulatory molecules, such as calcium and glutathione, can be studied functionally within hemocytes. Finally, we report an in vivo transfer of sorted live hemocytes and their successful reanalysis on retrieval from single hosts. This generic and versatile fluorescence-activated cell sorting approach for hemocyte detection, analysis, and sorting, which is efficient down to one animal, should critically enhance in vivo and ex vivo hemocyte studies in Drosophila and other species, notably mosquitoes.

Ex vivo depletion of alloreactive cells based on CFSE dye dilution, activation antigen selection, and dendritic cell stimulation

AbstractEliminating alloreactive cells from T-cell populations would enable the transfer of immune function to patients who receive stem cell transplants. However, high-efficiency depletion has proved difficult to achieve. We sought to develop ex vivo approaches for the maximal depletion of alloreactive CD4+ T cells. Using a flow cytometric cell sorting approach after mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) culture, we have found that sorted CFSEbright (5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinmidyl ester) (nondivided) and activation antigen-negative cells are markedly depleted of alloreactivity. With HLA-mismatched peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) stimulators we have consistently attained (90%-95%) depletion of alloreactivity. Importantly, when purified matured monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) are used as stimulators, a 100-fold (99%) reduction in alloreactivity was attained, resulting in abrogation of the secondary MLR. Significantly, the CFSEbright CD25- cells recovered from these cultures retained general immunoreactivity, including responses to Candida and cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigens. In addition, a CFSE-based approach was tested and found to be sufficient for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention in vivo, in a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II disparate murine model. This efficient approach to selectively deplete mature alloantigen-specific T cells may permit enhanced immune reconstitution without GVHD. (Blood. 2004;103:1158-1165)

B cells of HIV-1-infected patients bind virions through CD21-complement interactions and transmit infectious virus to activated T cells.

The impact of HIV-associated immunopathogenesis on B cells has been largely associated with indirect consequences of viral replication. This study demonstrates that HIV interacts directly with B cells in both lymphoid tissues and peripheral blood. B cells isolated from lymph node and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 4 and 23 chronically infected patients, respectively, demonstrated similar capacities to pass virus to activated HIV-negative PBMCs when compared with CD4(+) cells from the same patients. However, in contrast to T cells, virus associated with B cells was surface bound, as shown by its sensitivity to pronase and the staining pattern revealed by in situ amplification of HIV-1 RNA. Cell sorting and ligand displacing approaches established that CD21 was the HIV-binding receptor on B cells, and that this association was mediated through complement-opsonized virus. These B cells were also found to express significantly lower levels of CD21 compared with HIV-negative individuals, suggesting a direct perturbing effect of HIV on B cells. These findings suggest that B cells, although they themselves are not readily infected by HIV, are similar to follicular dendritic cells in their capacity to serve as extracellular reservoirs for HIV-1. Furthermore, B cells possess the added capability of circulating in peripheral blood and migrating through tissues where they can potentially interact with and pass virus to T cells.