title: Dual polarization of microglia isolated from mixed glial cell cultures.
abstract: Microglia are versatile immune effector cells of the CNS and are sensitive to various stimuli. The different methods used to isolate microglia may affect some of their characteristics, such as their polarization state. The influence of cell sorting methods on the polarization state of microglia has never been studied. Mixed glial culture system (MGCS) and magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) are two methods that are commonly used to purify microglia. This study compares the immunological states between microglia isolated by MGCS and microglia isolated by MACS. We show that microglia isolated by MGCS exhibit a stronger immune-activated state than microglia isolated by MACS. They present an elevated phagocytic ability and high levels of markers associated with classical activation (M1) and alternative activation (M2). In addition, high levels of M1-type and M2-type chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 and transforming growth factor-β1 were detected in the culture medium of mixed glial cells. Our results show that microglia isolated by MGCS are in an immune-activated state, whereas microglia isolated by MACS appear to be closer to their primary in vivo state. Therefore, the immune status of microglia, depending on the protocol used to purify them, should be carefully considered in neuropathology research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing Center of Neural Regeneration and Repair, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Ministry of Education, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infectious Diseases, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing Center of Neural Regeneration and Repair, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Ministry of Education, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing Center of Neural Regeneration and Repair, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Ministry of Education, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infectious Diseases, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Beibei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing Center of Neural Regeneration and Repair, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Ministry of Education, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qunyuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D059346:Magnets; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D017628:Microglia / Q000502:physiology*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000145:classification; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000502:physiology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: central nervous system; immune effector cells; microglia