Measurement of cellular adhesion under static conditions.

This unit describes procedures for measuring the adhesion of lymphoid cells to immobilized ligands or adherent cell monolayers. The basic protocol, which is optimized for human T cells, can be easily modified to study almost any cell type in suspension if the corresponding adhesive ligand is available. Alternate protocols describe modifications to the basic protocol that allow analysis of cell adhesion in the presence of stimulators of lymphocyte activation or monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that react with adhesion molecules or their ligands, or analysis of cell adhesion to adherent cell monolayers. A support protocol is provided for determining the optimal concentration of adhesion ligands and choosing the appropriate type of microtiter plate for static adhesion assays.