Macrophage Migration from an Agarose Droplet: Development of a Micromethod for Assay of Delayed Hypersensitivity

Abstract Inhibition of macrophage migration from a glass capillary is the most widely accepted and best characterized in vitro correlate of delayed hypersensitivity. Significant technical limitations of this method have been eliminated by a modified migration inhibitory factor (MIF) method in which macrophages are stabilized in an agarose droplet instead of a capillary tube. This agarose method is technically simple, permitting the rapid assay of large numbers of samples and requiring relatively small volumes of culture supernatant. Experiments comparing the capillary and agarose methods have established the validity and specificity of the agarose method for assay of MIF.