Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Aug:Chapter 7:7.8.1-7.8.4.
doi: 10.1002/0471142735.im0708s86.

Isolation of mononuclear cells from tonsillar tissue

Andrew Johnston  1 , Sigrun L Sigurdardottir  2 , Judith J Ryon  3
Affiliations

Isolation of mononuclear cells from tonsillar tissue

Andrew Johnston et al. Curr Protoc Immunol. 2009 Aug.

Abstract

Located on the inside of the throat, the paired palatine tonsils form part of the first major barrier protecting the digestive and respiratory tracts from potentially invading microorganisms. The tonsils have a surface of stratified squamous epithelium that extends into deep and branched crypts lined by reticulated epithelium, which in parts may only be one cell thick. Organized in the sub-epithelial space are B cell rich lymphoid follicles. T cells are mostly located in the extra-follicular spaces with a very high CD4:CD8 T cell ratio. In addition to the T and B cell subsets, six phenotypes of dendritic cells (DC) have been identified in the tonsils: Langerhans cells in the squamous epithelium, germinal center DC, and follicular DC in the germinal center, and another three DC phenotypes that are located in the extra-follicular area (interdigitating DC, plasmacytoid DC, and lympho-epithelial symbiosis-DC). Here, we describe the isolation of tonsil mononuclear cells from fresh human tonsil.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Release of HIV-1 sequestered in the vesicles of oral and genital mucosal epithelial cells by epithelial-lymphocyte interaction.
    Yasen A, Herrera R, Rosbe K, Lien K, Tugizov SM. Yasen A, et al. PLoS Pathog. 2017 Feb 27;13(2):e1006247. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006247. eCollection 2017 Feb. PLoS Pathog. 2017. PMID: 28241053 Free PMC article.
  • Replication of Epstein-Barr virus primary infection in human tonsil tissue explants.
    Gotoh K, Ito Y, Maruo S, Takada K, Mizuno T, Teranishi M, Nakata S, Nakashima T, Iwata S, Goshima F, Nakamura S, Kimura H. Gotoh K, et al. PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e25490. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025490. Epub 2011 Oct 5. PLoS One. 2011. PMID: 21998663 Free PMC article.
  • Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies.
    Cossarizza A, Chang HD, Radbruch A, Akdis M, Andrä I, Annunziato F, Bacher P, Barnaba V, Battistini L, Bauer WM, Baumgart S, Becher B, Beisker W, Berek C, Blanco A, Borsellino G, Boulais PE, Brinkman RR, Büscher M, Busch DH, Bushnell TP, Cao X, Cavani A, Chattopadhyay PK, Cheng Q, Chow S, Clerici M, Cooke A, Cosma A, Cosmi L, Cumano A, Dang VD, Davies D, De Biasi S, Del Zotto G, Della Bella S, Dellabona P, Deniz G, Dessing M, Diefenbach A, Di Santo J, Dieli F, Dolf A, Donnenberg VS, Dörner T, Ehrhardt GRA, Endl E, Engel P, Engelhardt B, Esser C, Everts B, Dreher A, Falk CS, Fehniger TA, Filby A, Fillatreau S, Follo M, Förster I, Foster J, Foulds GA, Frenette PS, Galbraith D, Garbi N, García-Godoy MD, Geginat J, Ghoreschi K, Gibellini L, Goettlinger C, Goodyear CS, Gori A, Grogan J, Gross M, Grützkau A, Grummitt D, Hahn J, Hammer Q, Hauser AE, Haviland DL, Hedley D, Herrera G, Herrmann M, Hiepe F, Holland T, Hombrink P, Houston JP, Hoyer BF, Huang B, Hunter CA, Iannone A, Jäck HM, Jávega B, Jonjic S, Juelke K, Jung S, Kaiser T, Kalina T, Keller B, Khan S, Kienhöfer D, Kroneis T, Kunkel D, Kurts C, Kvistborg P, Lannigan J, Lantz O, Larbi A, LeibundGut-Landmann S, Leipold MD, Levings… See abstract for full author list ➔ Cossarizza A, et al. Eur J Immunol. 2017 Oct;47(10):1584-1797. doi: 10.1002/eji.201646632. Eur J Immunol. 2017. PMID: 29023707 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
  • Polyamine biosynthesis and eIF5A hypusination are modulated by the DNA tumor virus KSHV and promote KSHV viral infection.
    Fiches GN, Wu Z, Zhou D, Biswas A, Li TW, Kong W, Jean M, Santoso NG, Zhu J. Fiches GN, et al. PLoS Pathog. 2022 Apr 29;18(4):e1010503. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010503. eCollection 2022 Apr. PLoS Pathog. 2022. PMID: 35486659 Free PMC article.
  • Epstein-Barr virus type 2 infection is associated with higher viral loads in pediatric tonsils from western Kenya.
    Koech E, Ogolla S, Amolo AS, Waomba K, Onditi I, Sabourin KR, Ariera B, Chumbe S, Kenney SC, Rochford R, Samayoa-Reyes G. Koech E, et al. Microbiol Spectr. 2025 Aug 5;13(8):e0074025. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.00740-25. Epub 2025 Jul 8. Microbiol Spectr. 2025. PMID: 40626696 Free PMC article.
See all "Cited by" articles

References

Literature Cited

References
    1. Hart, D. and McKenzie, J. 1988. Isolation and characterization of human tonsil dendritic cells. J. Exp. Med. 168:157-170.
    1. Hoffmann, M., Schmidt, D., and Oettgen, H. 1973. Production of antibody to sheep red blood cells by human tonsil cells in vitro. Nature 243:408-410.
    1. Muraguchi, A., Butler, J., Kehrl, J., and Fauci, A.S. 1983. Differential sensitivity of human B cell subsets to activation signals delivered by anti-µ antibody and proliferative signals delivered by a monoclonal B cell growth factor. J. Exp. Med. 157:530-546.
    1. Nakagawa, T., Nakagawa, N., Ambrus, J.L., and Fauci, A.S. 1988. Differential effects of Interleukin 2 vs. B cell growth factor on human B cells. J. Immunol. 140:465-469.
    1. Sloyer, J., Veltri, R., and Sprinkle, P. 1973. In vitro IgM antibody synthesis by human tonsil-derived lymphocytes. J. Immunol. 111:183-188.
Key Reference
    1. Watanabe et al., 1974. See above.

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources