RAW 264.7 cell line

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.

References, associated documents and other information

Links
RAW 264.7 macrophages
Questions related to RAW 264.7 Cells

Contact person

Jerome Hendriks

Organisations

University of Hasselt (UHasselt)
Biomedisch Onderzoeksinstituut
Immunity and Infection
Belgium
Flemish Region