Quantification of Microglial Phagocytosis by a Flow Cytometer-Based Assay

Microglia represent the largest population of phagocytes in the CNS and have a principal role in immune defense and inflammatory responses in the CNS. Their phagocytic activity can be studied by a variety of techniques, including a flow cytometry-based approach utilizing polystyrene latex beads. The flow cytometry-based microglial phagocytosis assay, which is presented here, offers the advantage of rapid and reliable analysis of thousands of cells in a quantitative fashion.