Multi-Color Flow Cytometry For Comprehensive Analysis Of The Tumor Immune Infiltrate In A Murine Model Of Breast Cancer

Flow cytometry is a popular laser-based technology that allows the phenotypic and functional characterization of individual cells in a high-throughput manner. Here, we describe a detailed procedure for preparing a single-cell suspension from mammary tumors of the mouse mammary tumor viruspolyoma middle T (MMTV-PyMT) and analyzing these cells by multi-color flow cytometry. This protocol can be used to study the following tumor-infiltrating immune cell populations, defined by the expression of cell surface molecules: total leukocytes, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), conventional dendritic cells (DCs), CD103-expressing DCs, tumor-associated neutrophils, inflammatory monocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells, gamma delta T cells, and regulatory T cells.