Exact determination of phagocytic activity of alveolar macrophages toward polymer microspheres by elimination of those attached to the macrophage membrane.
A method for exact determination of phagocytic activity of alveolar macrophage (Mvarphi) cells toward synthetic microspheres (MS) by optical microscopy was developed. We examined the effectiveness of the treatment of Mvarphi samples with trypsin, acid or xylene to remove the polystyrene latex microspheres (PSL MS) attached to Mvarphi cell membranes during their phagocytosis by Mvarphi cells. We found that centrifugation, which was employed to collect Mvarphi samples after incubation with MS, affected significantly the efficiency of the various treatments. Of the three treatments, xylene treatment without centrifugation was the most effective to determine the phagocytic activity of Mvarphi cells, as xylene dissolved the PSL MS on the cell surface almost completely. This treatment was also effective in the case of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) MS (PLGA MS), which have been commonly used as an efficient vehicle for drug delivery system.
Hasegawa
Taizo
T
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki Noda, Chiba 278-8510, Japan.
Iijima
Kanako
K
Hirota
Keiji
K
Nakajima
Takehisa
T
Makino
Kimiko
K
Terada
Hiroshi
H
D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000166:cytology*; D008863:Microspheres; D010587:Phagocytosis; D011108:Polymers; D051381:Rats
D011108:Polymers