Open-source ImmGen: mononuclear phagocytes

741 cells4, this ‘open-source’ project will begin with the area of mononuclear phagocytes (macrophages, dendritic cells and monocytes). These are populations for which recent research has uncovered a rich diversity of origin and phenotype. In line with ImmGen scope, submissions may encompass finely resolved mononuclear phagocyte populations across differentiation, tissue location or specific activation (ex vivo only). We anticipate that investigators might contribute somewhere between a few to a dozen cell populations, representing a unique contribution that complements the reference populations already profiled by ImmGen core groups. We are asking interested investigators to send a detailed description of the cell populations they would propose to contribute (i.e., tissue of origin and exact sorting markers used for identification and/or exclusion) and a short justification of the inclusion of these cells in this project (form available at http://www.immgen.org/OS.MNP. xls). The mouse used as a standard for ImmGen profiling is a 5-week-old C57BL/6 male mouse, but transgenic and knock-in reporter mice with the same genetic background can also be used as needed. An evaluation of sex differences is planned. Some degree of redundancy is expected and is in fact desirable, but to limit duplication and ensure a good fit with the ImmGen scope, the proposals will be reviewed, discussed and refined with the contributing investigators and will be collated with the cell populations profiled by the ImmGen groups into a rich and coherent program. We believe that experimenting with this mode of discovery has the potential to generate exciting and useful new data and knowledge and to accentuate the community’s involvement with the ImmGen effort.