Flow Cytometry-Based Methods to Characterize Immune Senescence in Nonhuman Primates

Abstract

Flow cytometry is an invaluable technique that can be used to phenotypically and functionally characterize immune cell populations ex vivo. This technology has greatly advanced our ability to gain critical insight into age-related changes in immune function, commonly known as immune senescence. Rodents have been traditionally used to investigate the molecular mechanisms of immune senescence because they offer the distinct advantages of an extensive set of reagents, the presence of genetically modified strains, and a short lifespan that allows for longevity studies of short duration. More recently, nonhuman primates (NHPs), and specifically rhesus macaques, have emerged as a leading translational model to study various aspects of human aging. In contrast to rodents, they share significant genetic homology as well as physiological and behavioral characteristics with humans. Furthermore, rhesus macaques are a long-lived outbred species, which makes them an ideal translational model. Therefore, NHPs offer a unique opportunity to carry out mechanistic studies under controlled laboratory conditions (e.g., photoperiod, temperature, diet, and medications) in a species that closely mimics human biology. Moreover similar techniques (e.g., activity recording and MRI) can be used to measure physiological parameters in NHPs, making direct comparisons between NHP and human data sets possible. In addition, the outbred genetics of NHPs enables rigorous validation of research findings that goes beyond proof of principle. Finally, self-selection bias that is often unavoidable in human clinical trials can be completely eliminated with NHP studies. Here we describe flow cytometry-based methods to phenotypically and functionally characterize innate immune cells as well as T and B lymphocyte subsets from isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in rhesus macaques.