© Stock.Adobe.com/au/PRB ARTS
Major limitation discovered in cellular biology analysis tool Australian researchers have revealed that specialised immune cells called macrophages are being fragmented during the extraction process to generate single-cell suspensions from bone marrow and other haematopoietic tissues.
P
known as tissue-resident macrophages, that are
nodes discovered that all the macrophages were
present in each tissue of the body and adapt to
breaking up during the extraction process for
where they are located to support the tissue’s
single-cell preparation.
development, function, health, protection from
“It was a big shock as it has significant
ublished in the journal Cell Reports,
infection and regeneration after injury. Previous
implications for the type of research we do, and
their discovery indicates that data collected using
research using single-cell preparations from
it will likely cause controversy in the field, but the
this scientific method are often skewed — which
hematopoietic tissues has often had unexplained,
first priority of academic research is the integrity
will force the reassessment of a large amount of
and often ignored, under-representation of
of the data, as this is integral to the reliability
already-published scientific literature to determine
tissue-resident macrophages in the generated
of translating knowledge gains into real-world
if the reported observations are accurate or
datasets — even though these cells represent up
impacts,” Prof Pettit said.
incorrectly interpreted. It is also expected to change
to 15% of the tissue.
how researchers approach analysis of these tissues in the future.
Many biological fields rely on tissue disruption
Lead investigator Professor Allison Pettit,
techniques to release individual cells for more
Mater Research Director of Biomedical Research,
detailed study. In the case of haematopoietic
Led by Mater Research, the scientists
said her team’s examination of tissue-resident
tissues, it is a simple procedure in which the
examined a specific subtype of macrophages,
macrophages in bone marrow, spleen and lymph
whole organ is subjected to a gentle mechanical
18 | LAB+LIFE SCIENTIST - Dec 2021/Jan 2022
www.LabOnline.com.au | www.LifeScientist.com.au
