RAW 264.7 cell line

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Scope of the method

The Method relates to

Human health

The Method is situated in

Basic Research

Type of method

In vitro - Ex vivo

This method makes use of

Animal derived cells / tissues / organs

Species from which cells/tissues/organs are derived

Mouse (strain balb/c)

Type of cells/tissues/organs

Macrophage-like, Abelson leukemia virus transformed cell line

Description

Method keywords

cell culture

Scientific area keywords

Immunology
macrophage polarization
Cell culture

Method description

Cell line which is commonly used to study biological processes in mouse macrophages. It is a macrophage-like cell line derived from BALB/c mice.

Lab equipment

No special equipment needed besides normal cell culture equipment

Method status

History of use

Pros, cons & Future potential

Advantages

- Easy to grow and maintain ;
- Cell line (no primary cells), so there is no use of animals to obtain the cells ;
- Phenotypic and functional stability ;
- Capable of performing pinocytosis and phagocytosis ;
- Increase nitric oxide (NO) production and enhance phagocytosis upon LPS stimulation ;
- Different KO versions available ;
- Can differentiate towards osteoclasts.

Modifications

Different modified forms of RAW264.7 cells are already available, such as cells which express reporter genes to monitor the activation of NFkB or the interferon regulatory factor pathway. Also, various RAW cells with a KO for a certain gene are available. Potentially additional variants of this cell type can be made in the future.