Figure 1.

Aggregation culture of human mononuclear cells expands podoplanin-positive monocytes (PPMs). (a) Timeline of aggregation culture. PBMCs were cultured under three-dimensional (3D) suspension condition and harvested at day 3 or 5. The number and size of hematosphere increased during 3D culture. Scale bar = 0.5 mm. (b) Flow cytometry analysis of fresh PBMCs and cultured hematospheres at days 3 and 5 was performed with podoplanin antibody. (c) Bar graph representing the percentage of PPMs during hematosphere culture. Most of the cells in hematospheres expressed podoplanin. Each value is the average of three independent experiments (**P < 0.01; n = 4 per experiment). PBMCs, peripheral blood mononuclear cells; SSC, side scatter.