FACS Purification of Bone Marrow-Derived Epidermal Populations in Mice: Langerhans Cells and Thy-1+ Dendritic Cells

A method was developed which allows for the separation and purification of Langerhans cells (LC) and Thy-1+ cells (Thy-1+dEC) from mouse epidermis. Epidermal cell (EC) suspensions were subjected to Ficoll separation, and the resulting interface EC were harvested. These EC were then “tagged” with the appropriate monoclonal antibody and sorted into positive and negative populations using the Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter (FACS). Preparations of viable LC and Thy-1+dEC were obtained with 94–98% and 94–99% purities, respectively