Hello everyone!
My main question is "are CD11c and CD11b good independent markers for macrophages?"
I am trying to understand how these 2 proteins function within an inflamed environment. So far my understanding is that CD11c is expressed in cells that are also CD206 negative which means the CD11c positive cells are M1-like macrophages. However, CD11c marks for neutrophils as well as macrophages so how can anyone be sure that the positive CD11c cells in an IHC experiment are truly macrophages in a given tissue?
Also CD11c and CD11b overlap in the peptide sequence to identify them through IHC. This probably explains why many people use CD11b/c antibodies.
I think I am a bit confused as to whether CD11c is a sufficient M1 marker or it is really CD11b/c working together to polarize macrophages to a M1-like phenotype.
I need your help and would like to ask everyone for a citation to read so I may understand this better. So far I have read broad immunology chapters and review papers that are within the context of inflammation.
Thank you for your time! :D
Tara Mahmood I would say CD11b is a good marker for macrophages, but not an independent marker.
It also depends upon your sample (Human or murine)
For Human - CD11b, CD68, CD163
For Murine - CD11b, F4/80, CD68
CD11c is a marker of dendritic cells.
https://www.biolegend.com/en-us/essential-markers
I suggest to use cd11b+ and F480+ cells to identify macrophages.
DCs are usually cd11c+
Since both these cell types are very plastic, 1 or 2 markers is not enough to characterize them corretly.
Regards
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