Isolation of Healthy F4/80+ Macrophages from Embryonic day E13.5 Mouse Fetal Liver Using Magnetic Nanoparticles for Single Cell Sequencing

In vivo erythropoiesis occurs in the erythroblast island niche (EBI), comprising of a central macrophage that attaches to and aids the maturation of erythroid progenitors into mature reticulocytes. Macrophages in hematopoietic tissue such as embryonic fetal liver are heterogeneous and express the cell surface protein F4/80. Earlier methods of isolating F4/80+ macrophages from hematopoietic tissue relied on FACS sorting, but the relatively low numbers of F4/80+ cells obtained after FACS sometimes led to poor RNA quality. Additionally, since EBI macrophages are attached to erythroblasts, care must be taken to avoid contamination with bound erythroblasts. We have developed a novel method for isolating F4/80+ cells from E13.5 mouse fetal liver using magnetic nanoparticles, which can be performed on the lab bench. During cell suspension and homogenization, we also add a peptide that disrupts erythroid macrophage interactions and generates F4/80+ single cells free of erythroid contamination. Thus, our protocol generates a population enriched in F4/80+ cells that are healthy and ready for sensitive techniques such as single cell sequencing.