New Product Launch│Elabscience® Specialized Cell Isolation Kits for M2 Macrophage Polarization and NK Cell Expansion

In vitro immune cell culture is the foundation of tumor immunology, inflammatory metabolism, and cell therapy R&D. However, M2 macrophage polarization and primary NK cell expansion have long been pain points in the lab: low viability, inconsistent polarization, weak NK proliferation, and poor batch-to-batch reproducibility often waste precious primary samples and hold back research progress.

To tackle these challenges head‑on, Elabscience^® introduces negative isolation kits specifically designed for M2 macrophage polarization and NK cell culture, providing a streamlined workflow from high‑purity, untouched cell isolation to efficient differentiation, expansion, and phenotypic characterization.

Table of Contents

1. EasySort™ Cell Isolation Kits Overview

2. Key Advantages of EasySort™ Cell Isolation Kits

3. Experimental Validation of EasySort™ Cell Isolation Kits

01 EasySort™ Cell Isolation Kits Overview

Elabscience^® EasySort™ Mouse Monocyte Isolation Kit and EasySort™ Human NK Cell Negative Isolation Kit are designed to isolate mouse monocytes from fresh mouse spleen samples and human NK cells from fresh human peripheral blood PBMC samples, respectively, using a negative selection method. The principle of this kit involves labeling non-target cells (non-naive Pan (CD3)/CD4/CD8 T cells) with different biotin-conjugated monoclonal antibodies. Subsequently, streptavidin-labeled magnetic beads are used to deplete these non-target cells, thereby achieving the isolation of monocytes and NK cells. This method preserves the target cells in their unstimulated, native state. The isolated cells are free from any antibody or magnetic bead labeling and can be directly used in downstream applications. The product information for the kit is as follows:

Table 1. Specifications of EasySort™ Negative Cell Isolation Kits

02 Key Advantages of EasySort™ Cell Isolation Kits

● No red blood cell lysis required, ensuring better cell viability.

● Non-stimulating isolation; target cells are free from antibody and magnetic bead labeling, and cell status remains unaffected.

● High purity: post-isolation cell purity exceeds 95%.

● No separation columns are required for the isolation process.

● Short experimental time: negative cell selection can be completed in as little as 15 minutes.

Suitable for both fresh human PBMC samples and frozen PBMC samples.

03 Experimental Validation of EasySort™ Cell Isolation Kits

Fig. 1 Sorting and purity validation of mouse bone marrow monocytes. As shown, monocytes (Lineage⁻ (CD3, CD45R, CD117, CD170, NK1.1) CD11b⁺ Ly6G⁻ Ly6Chi/lo) were sorted from bone marrow cells of C57BL/6 mice. Before and after sorting, cells were stained with APC Anti-Mouse CD3 Antibody [17A2] (E-AB-F1013E), APC Anti-Mouse CD45R (B220) Antibody [RA3-6B2] (AN00428E), APC Anti-Mouse CD117/c-Kit Antibody [2B8] (E-AB-F1092E), APC Anti-Mouse CD170 Antibody [S17007L] (AN00629E), APC Anti-Mouse CD161/NK1.1 Antibody [PK136] (E-AB-F0987E), PE Anti-Mouse/Human/Monkey CD11b Antibody [M1/70] (E-AB-F1081D), Elab Fluor^® Violet 450 Anti-Mouse Ly6G Antibody [1A8] (E-AB-F1108Q), and FITC Anti-Mouse Ly6C Antibody [Monts 1] (E-AB-F1121C) for detection. The monocyte fractions before and after sorting were 17.75% and 97.41%, respectively.

Fig. 2 Experimental results of in vitro polarization of mouse bone marrow monocytes toward the M2 phenotype. As shown, after sorting highly purified monocytes from bone marrow cells of C57BL/6 mice, cells were stimulated with IL-4 (20 ng/mL) combined with IL-13 (20 ng/mL) for 3 days and 7 days, respectively, to induce polarization into M2-type macrophages. Morphological observation revealed that, compared with the unstimulated control group without cytokines, the polarized cells exhibited typical M2-type macrophage characteristics, including adherent growth, an elongated spindle-shaped morphology, few protrusions, and dense cytoplasm with few vacuoles. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the polarized M2 macrophages highly expressed the M2 marker CD206.

In Vitro Expansion and NK Cell Cytotoxicity Assay

Fig. 3 Sorting and purity validation of NK cells from human peripheral blood PBMCs. As shown in the upper figure, the purity of NK cells before and after sorting was analyzed by flow cytometry. The NK cell fractions before and after sorting were 15.82% and 95.39%, respectively.

Fig. 4 Experimental results of NK cell cytotoxicity assay. As shown, highly purified NK cells were sorted from human peripheral blood PBMCs. NK cells and target cells (Jurkat cells) were co-cultured at effector-to-target (E:T) ratios of 1:1, 3:1, and 10:1 for 24 hours, after which cells were harvested to assess Jurkat cell proliferation and death. DAPI staining results showed that, compared with the control group, the number of DAPI-positive dead Jurkat cells was significantly increased in the co-culture groups, and co-culture with NK cells significantly inhibited Jurkat cell proliferation.

The above is an introduction to Elabscience's latest new products, namely the EasySort™ Mouse Monocyte Isolation Kit (MIM010N) and the EasySort™ Human NK Cell Isolation Kit (MIH005N). In the future, Elabscience^® will continue to launch the Mouse CD4 Positive Isolation Kit and the Mouse CD4 Memory Cell Negative Isolation Kit. If you have any needs regarding cell isolation and in vitro culture protocols, feel free to leave a comment in the discussion section or send us a message via the backend.

More Recommended Products for Cell Isolation:

Table 2. Additional Recommended Products for Cell Isolation Experiments