Protocol to characterize immune cell subpopulations in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with neuroinflammatory diseases using mass cytometry

Gerardina Gallaccio; Meng Wang; Stephan Schlickeiser; Desiree Kunkel; Chotima Böttcher; Camila Fernández-Zapata

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2024.103038

Protocol to characterize immune cell subpopulations in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with neuroinflammatory diseases using mass cytometry

STAR Protoc. 2024 Apr 27;5(2):103038. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2024.103038. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Gerardina Gallaccio¹, Meng Wang¹, Stephan Schlickeiser², Desiree Kunkel³, Chotima Böttcher⁴, Camila Fernández-Zapata⁵

Affiliations

¹ Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
² Institute of Medical Immunology, BIH-Center for Regenerative Therapies, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
³ Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitiätsmedizin Berlin, Flow & Mass Cytometry Core Facility, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: chotima.boettcher@charite.de.
⁵ Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: maria.fernandez@charite.de.

Abstract

Phenotypic and compositional changes of immune cells in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be used as biomarkers to help diagnose and track disease activity for neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we present a workflow to perform high-dimensional immune profiling at single-cell resolution using cytometry by time-of-flight (CyTOF) on cells isolated from the CSF of patients with neuroinflammation. We describe steps for sample collection and preparation, barcoding to allow for multiplexing, and downstream data analysis using R. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Fernández-Zapata et al.¹.

Keywords: Health Sciences; Immunology; Mass Cytometry; Neuroscience; Proteomics; Single Cell.