M1 & M2 Macrophage Polarization Assays

Macrophages are important myeloid cells of the immune system that are phagocytic and secrete cytokines that are instrumental in promoting a pro-inflammatory or regulatory immune response and interact with other immune effectors. The M1 (pro-inflammatory) and M2 (regulatory) are the two main macrophage types that are considered important in drug biology studies.

In vitro M1/M2 Polarisation (macrophage) Studies

We generate macrophages from a human monocytic cell line. These cells express CD14, CD11c, HLA-DR, CD80, CD86, SIRPa and can be used in mono or co-cultures to study drug effects for various macrophage related outcomes.

The macrophages can be characterised by flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry and microscopy.

These macrophages are easily transformed into inflammatory (M1) or regulatory type (M2) and can also demonstrate effective phagocytosis.

Applications

M1/M2 are important in studies of various therapeutic areas and biological pathways:

• Tumour biology and oncology
• Wound healing
• Infection
• Inflammatory and autoimmune conditions
• Cardiovascular disease
• Cell death and clearance

In recent years much attention has been given to macrophage based models in cancer studies.