Monocytes isolated by positive and negative magnetic sorting techniques show different molecular characteristics and immunophenotypic behaviour

Background: Magnetic sorting of cells, based on microbead conjugated antibodies (Abs), employs positive as well as negative immunomagnetic separation methods, for isolation of a specific cell population. These microbeads are suggested to be nontoxic, biodegradable carriers conjugated to various antibodies. Isolation of cells through positive selection involves the attachment of antibody conjugated microbeads to the cells of interest, followed by their isolation in the presence of a strong magnetic field to obtain higher purity. Negative selection involves attachment of microbead conjugated antibodies to all other cell populations except the cells of interest, which remain untagged. In the present study, we compared the two methods for their effect on functional and immunophenotypic behavior of isolated CD14+ monocytes. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from blood collected from healthy volunteers by density gradient centrifugation. Human blood derived monocytes were isolated through positive selection and negative selection, making use of the appropriate monocyte isolation kit. Monocytes were then stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and their activation and proliferation capacity were examined. The degradation or dissociation of cell-bound microbeads was also investigated. Results: We observed an impaired LPS sensitivity as well as poor activation and proliferation capacity upon stimulation by LPS in positively sorted CD14+ monocytes as compared to negatively sorted CD14+ monocytes. The attached microbeads did not degrade and remained attached to the cells even after 6 days of culture. Conclusions: Our results suggest that positively sorted CD14+ cells exhibit hampered functionality and may result in inaccurate analysis and observations in downstream applications. However, these cells can be used for immediate analytical procedures.