AUTHOR=Boero Elena , Brinkman Iris , Juliet Thessely , van Yperen Eline , van Strijp Jos A. G. , Rooijakkers Suzan H. M. , van Kessel Kok P. M. 

TITLE=Use of Flow Cytometry to Evaluate Phagocytosis of Staphylococcus aureus by Human Neutrophils

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.635825

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2021.635825

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Neutrophils play a key role in the human immune response to <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> infections. These professional phagocytes rapidly migrate to the site of infection to engulf bacteria and destroy them <italic>via</italic> specialized intracellular killing mechanisms. Here we describe a robust and relatively high-throughput flow cytometry assay to quantify phagocytosis of <italic>S. aureus</italic> by human neutrophils. We show that effective phagocytic uptake of <italic>S. aureus</italic> is greatly enhanced by opsonization, i.e. the tagging of microbial surfaces with plasma-derived host proteins like antibodies and complement. Our rapid assay to monitor phagocytosis can be used to study neutrophil deficiencies and bacterial evasion, but also provides a powerful tool to assess the opsonic capacity of antibodies, either in the context of natural immune responses or immune therapies.</p>