Isolation and Flow-cytometric Analysis of Mouse Intestinal Crypt Cells

Abstract

The intestinal epithelial layer forms tubular invaginations into the underlying connective tissue of the lamina propria. These structures, termed crypts, are the basic functional unit of the intestine. Colon crypts and the surrounding lamina propria house different cell types, including epithelial cells, stem cells, enterocytes, goblet cells, as well as cells of the innate and adaptive immune systems (Clevers, 2013; Mowat and Agace, 2014). Here we describe a technique for the isolation of mouse intestinal crypt cells as well as their characterization by flow cytometry analysis (FACS) (Del Reino et al., 2012).