Human T Lymphocyte Isolation, Culture and Analysis of Migration In Vitro

Summary

T lymphocyte migration occurs during homing to lymphoid organs, exit from the vasculature, and entering into peripheral tissues. Here, we describe a protocol that can be used to analyze T lymphocyte migration in vitro.

Abstract

The migration of T lymphocytes involves the adhesive interaction of cell surface integrins with ligands expressed on other cells or with extracellular matrix proteins. The precise spatiotemporal activation of integrins from a low affinity state to a high affinity state at the cell leading edge is important for T lymphocyte migration ¹. Likewise, retraction of the cell trailing edge, or uropod, is a necessary step in maintaining persistent integrin-dependent T lymphocyte motility ². Many therapeutic approaches to autoimmune or inflammatory diseases target integrins as a means to inhibit the excessive recruitment and migration of leukocytes ³. To study the molecular events that regulate human T lymphocyte migration, we have utilized an in vitro system to analyze cell migration on a two-dimensional substrate that mimics the environment that a T lymphocyte encounters during recruitment from the vasculature. T lymphocytes are first isolated from human donors and are then stimulated and cultured for seven to ten days. During the assay, T lymphocytes are allowed to adhere and migrate on a substrate coated with intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), a ligand for integrin LFA-1, and stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1). Our data show that T lymphocytes exhibit a migratory velocity of ~15 μm/min. T lymphocyte migration can be inhibited by integrin blockade ¹ or by inhibitors of the cellular actomyosin machinery that regulates cell migration ².

Protocol

1. Isolation of Human T Lymphocytes Obtain human blood from a healthy donor. Allow the blood to cool to room temperature (~30 min) before proceeding to the next step. Gently pipette 3 mL of room temperature Polymorph density gradient media into an 8 mL round-bottom polystyrene tube. Gently add 3 mL of whole blood on top of the Polymorph media. It is important to avoid mixing of the two reagents. Centrifuge the tubes at 500 x g for 45 minutes at room temperature. Followin…

Discussion

In this experiment, we provide details on a simple system to analyze the motility of primary human T lymphocytes. In vitro migration assays have been used to dissect the roles of many molecules and signaling pathways involved in the locomotion of various cell types. Some critical controls to keep in mind when designing your own experiment from our protocol include: 1) Non-adhesive or non-integrin adhesive substrate coatings, such as bovine serum albumin (BSA) or poly-L lysine (PLL), respectively, 2) integrin-spe…

Materials

Material Name	Tipo	Company	Catalogue Number	Comment
RPMI 1640		Gibco	11875
FBS		Thermo Scientific	SH300070.03
Penicillin-Streptomycin		Gibco	15140
1-Step Polymorphs		Accurate Chemical	AN221725
PHA		Remel/Fisher Scientific	R30852801
Rec. human IL-2		R&D Systems	202-IL
Rec. human IL-15		R&D Systems	247-IL
Protein G		Sigma Aldrich	19459
Rec. human ICAM-1/Fc		R&D Systems	720-IC
Rec. human SDF-1		R&D Systems	350-NS