Peripheral blood mononuclear cell

 ( Leukocytes ) 

A peripheral blood mononuclear cell ( PBMC) is any peripheral blood cell having a round Cell nucleus.Delves, Peter, et al. Roitt's Essential Immunology, 11th Ed. These cells consist of (, , ) and , whereas and have no nuclei, and (, , and ) have multi-lobed nuclei. In humans, lymphocytes make up the majority of the PBMC population, followed by monocytes, and only a small percentage of dendritic cells.

These cells can be extracted from whole blood using ficoll, a hydrophilic polysaccharide that separates layers of blood, and gradient centrifugation, which will separate the blood into a top layer of plasma, followed by a layer of PBMCs (buffy coat) and a bottom fraction of polymorphonuclear cells (such as neutrophils and eosinophils) and erythrocytes. The polymorphonuclear cells can be further isolated by lysing the red blood cells. Basophils are sometimes found in both the denser and the PBMC fractions.

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Clinical significance

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Infections Recent studies indicate that PBMCs may be susceptible to pathogenic infections, such as Ureaplasma parvum and U. urealyticum, Mycoplasma genitalium and M. hominis, and Chlamydia trachomatis infections. PBMCs may be also susceptible to viral infections. Indeed, footprints of JC virus and Merkel cell polyomavirus have been detected in PBMCs from pregnant women and women affected by spontaneous abortion.

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Research uses

Many scientists conducting research in the fields of immunology (including autoimmune disorders), infectious disease, hematological malignancies, vaccine development, transplant immunology, and high-throughput screening are frequent users of PBMCs. In many cases, PBMCs are derived from blood banks. PBMC fraction also contains progenitor populations, as demonstrated by methylcellulose based colony forming assays.

PBMCs have been thought to be an important route of vaccination. PBMCs from cancer patients can be extracted and cultured in vitro. Subsequently, PBMCs are challenged with such as tumor stem cell antigen. Inflammatory cytokines are usually added to aid in antigen uptake and recognition by PBMCs.

Categories: Leukocytes

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