Isolation and Analysis of Stromal Cell Populations from Mouse Lymph Nodes

Abstract

Our protocol describes a simple procedure for isolating stromal cells from lymph nodes (LN). LN are disrupted then enzymatically digested with collagenase and dispase to produce a single cell suspension that can be stained with fluorescently labelled antibodies and analysed by flow cytometry. This protocol will enable identification of fibroblastic reticular cells (FRC), lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC), blood endothelial cells (BEC) as PNAd+ BEC that form LN high endothelial venules (HEV). This method can be applied to examine LN stromal cell responses during inflammatory events induced by infections or immunologic adjuvants and to subset most leukocytes found in LN.