Isolation of purified and live Foxp3+ regulatory T cells using FACS sorting on scatter plot.

There are no ideal ways to identify and isolate viable and purified Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells so far. Here we developed a novel procedure for the isolation of highly purified Foxp3(+) cells using flow cytometry. This method relies on an identification and sorting of the lymphoblast cell population identified on a scatter plot using flow cytometry. We confirmed that greater than 98% of the cells sorted using this technique expressed Foxp3 and displayed a potent suppressive activity. This method provides a valuable tool for the study of the T regulatory cell biology and their therapeutic manipulation.