Analysis and purification of innate lymphoid cells in human intestine and blood by flow cytometry

Jingjing Qi; Liwen Hong; Zhengting Wang; Yingbin Liu; Lei Shen; Bing Su

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102180

Analysis and purification of innate lymphoid cells in human intestine and blood by flow cytometry

STAR Protoc. 2023 Mar 20;4(2):102180. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102180. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jingjing Qi¹, Liwen Hong², Zhengting Wang², Yingbin Liu³, Lei Shen³, Bing Su⁴

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, and Shanghai Institute of Cancer Biology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China. Electronic address: qijingjing100@sjtu.edu.cn.
² Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
³ Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, and Shanghai Institute of Cancer Biology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
⁴ Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, and Shanghai Institute of Cancer Biology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China; Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China. Electronic address: bingsu@sjtu.edu.cn.

Abstract

The role of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs)-including natural killer cells, helper-like ILC1s, ILC2s, ILC3s, and lymphoid tissue inducers-in human cancer is still poorly understood due to the scarcity of cell number. To address this, we present a protocol to analyze or purify ILCs from human blood, adjacent intestine, and colorectal tumor tissue. We describe steps for tissue and blood treatment, density centrifugation, antibody staining, and cell sorting. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Qi et al. (2021).¹.

Keywords: Cancer; Flow Cytometry/Mass Cytometry; Health Sciences; Immunology; Single Cell.