In-vitro differentiation of human monocytes into mature macrophages during long-term cultures.

A method is described which allows human peripheral blood monocytes from any given donor to differentiate in vitro into mature macrophages. About 90% of the starting monocytes are maintained during the long-term culture and are matured to macrophages. Thus cell loss is minimal and the resulting population of mature macrophages can be regarded as representative for all possible macrophage subpopulations present in peripheral blood. These cultures represent a standardized model for in-vitro studies on the role of mature macrophages in various immunological reactions.