Figure 6. Isolated microglia can phagocytose fluorescent beads.

Microglia were cultured in the presence or absence of fluorescent beads (1 μm diameter) for two hours. Cells were washed thoroughly to remove un-internalized beads and collected by trypsinisation and gentle scraping. Phagocytosis of beads was determined by a rightward shift in FL2 intensity via flow cytometry (a). One representative plot from three (two epilepsy and one GBM, frontal cortex) independent experiments is shown. Brightfield and fluorescent imaging of cells immediately prior to trypsinisation shows the distribution of beads within cells (b). Confocal scanning laser microscopy confirmed that microglia were able to internalise beads (c). Scale bar = 50 μm.