Author Spotlight: Isolation and Culture of Primary Synovial Macrophages and Fibroblasts from Murine Arthritis Tissue

Cell-based assays are required to clarify molecular functions. In arthritis studies, the method to isolate primary cells is well established in synovial fibroblasts, but not in synovial macrophages. Therefore, we developed a protocol to isolate and expand both synovial macrophages and synovial fibroblasts from arthritis models.

Primary synovial fibroblasts from murine arthritis tissue have contributed to the elucidation of molecular mechanisms in arthritis pathogenesis. On the other hand, bone marrow-derived macrophages, blood monocyte-derived macrophages, and macrophage cell lines have often been used as macrophage resources for arthritis studies. Since macrophages can acquire functions associated with their microenvironment, general sources of macrophages may lack responses specific to arthritis tissue.

In addition, it is difficult to obtain enough synovial cells by sorting, as murine synovium is a very small tissue even in arthritis models. In the previous method to isolate synovial fibroblasts, synovial macrophages were discarded. Besides that, a method to isolate and expand resident macrophages from some organs was reported.

Therefore, existing protocols were modified in combination to isolate and expand both synovial macrophages and synovial fibroblasts from murine arthritis tissue. This method can isolate both macrophages and fibroblasts from inflammatory synovium with high purity, and it is simple and reproducible. This method allows the expansion of synovial macrophages under co-culture with synovial fibroblasts.

Also, the method provides an advantage, in that synovial fibroblasts can be used with fewer passages. The established protocol would be an advantage for elucidation of pathological mechanisms in rheumatoid arthritis.