Isolation and Culturing of Primary Mouse and Human Macrophages

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Atherosclerosis

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2419))

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Abstract

Macrophages are mature immune cells involved in the defense of the organism. Since their discovery, the main function attributed to macrophages has been phagocytosis. However, in recent years, several new functions such as angiogenesis, tissue remodeling, clearance of apoptotic cells, pro- and anti-inflammatory properties and tumor growth have been attributed to macrophages. To perform such varied functions, macrophages acquire specific phenotypes in response to external signals. The possibility of replicating these phenotypes in vitro represents a cutting-edge tool to understand potential macrophage functions in vivo. This chapter outlines protocols used to isolate and culture murine bone marrow-derived and human monocyte-derived macrophages. Furthermore, macrophage polarization processes into different phenotypes, with special relevance to atherosclerosis, are indicated.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Oscar M. Pello for providing advice on different aspects of this work.

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Correspondence to Begoña Lavin Plaza .

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© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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de Juan, A., Lavin Plaza, B. (2022). Isolation and Culturing of Primary Mouse and Human Macrophages. In: Ramji, D. (eds) Atherosclerosis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2419. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1924-7_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1924-7_7

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1923-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1924-7

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