Methods for Studying Mononuclear Phagocytes is a practical guide to the study of mononuclear phagocytes that brings together various well-established and useful methods for examining these cells. The technical protocols have been made detailed, specific, practical, and inclusive of the necessary mystique for immediate and direct application in the laboratory. The book is divided into 11 parts arranged according to the sequence of steps that would generally be followed to study a given population of mononuclear phagocytes: (I) methods for obtaining and culturing populations of human and animal mononuclear phagocytes; (II) methods for separating populations of leukocytes to enrich or deplete their content of mononuclear phagocytes; (II) criteria and techniques for identifying mononuclear phagocytes; (IV) methods for quantifying the number of mononuclear phagocytes; (V) techniques for studying the morphology of mononuclear phagocytes; (VI) methods for quantifying the biochemical constituents of mononuclear phagocytes; (VII) methods of quantifying phagocytosis, pinocytosis, and chemotaxis; (VIII) methods for quantifying the secretory products of mononuclear phagocytes; (IX) procedures for quantifying the destruction of tumor cells and of microorganisms by mononuclear phagocytes; (X) methods for studying the cell biology of mononuclear phagocytes; and (XI) techniques for studying mononuclear phagocytes in vivo, including procedures for estimating their kinetics, accumulation, identification, and microbicidal properties.

Sixteen years have passed since the first Leiden Conference on Mononuclear Phagocytes. That first meeting led to new nomenclature, i. e. , the Mononuclear Phagocytes System (MPS), which was published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (R. van Furth, et aI. , Bull. WHO, 1972, 46: 845-852). The paradigm of the MPS has the advantage of being much more consistent than the Reticuloendothelial System (RES) (L. Aschoff, Ergebn. Inn. Med. Kinderheilk. 1924, 26:1), because cells with similar characteristics can be classified in the same category. The essence ota new concept is, according to Popper, that it must be susceptible to falsification. This has been attempted several times for the MPS by those who adhere to the RES. However, in biology no one can be certain of truth. Any theory must be based on experimental observations and/or theoretical consider ations and both should be presented in such a way that others can try to refute it, then or later. One may have a theoretical or a pragmatic preference for a theory which at a given time is regarded as possibly truc, but later it may be shown to be false. In other words, what we present in this volume is regarded as true at this moment, but others may consider it as not true and try to disprove it. Controversies often stimulate new research.

This comprehensive treatise on the reticuloendothelial system is a project jointly shared by individual members of the Reticuloendothelial (RE) Society and bio medical scientists in general who are interested in the intricate system of cells and molecular moieties derived from those cells which constitute the RES. It may now be more fashionable in some quarters to consider these cells as part of what is called the mononuclear phagocytic system or the lymphoreticular system. Nevertheless, because of historical developments and current interest in the subject by investigators from many diverse areas, it seems advantageous to present in one comprehensive treatise current information and knowledge con cerning basic aspects of the RES, such as morphology, biochemistry, phylogeny and ontogeny, physiology, and pharmacology as weIl as clinical areas including immunopathology, cancer, infectious diseases, allergy, and hypersensitivity. It is anticipated that by presenting information concerning these apparently heterogeneous topics under the unifying umbrella of the RES attention will be focused on the similarities as weIl as interactions among the cell types constitut ing the RES from the viewpoint of various disciplines. The treatise editors and their editorial board, consisting predominantly of the editors of individual vol umes, are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic cooperation and enormous task undertaken by members of the biomedical community in general and especially by members of the American as weIl as European and Japanese Reticuloendothe lial Societies.

The books in this series comprise review articles and descriptions of methods of immunoassay, which are not reliant on radioisotopes and reflect the growing importance of immunoassay technologies.