Fig. 1

Schematic overview of the IMS technique. Fresh lymph node samples were disintegrated in sterile PBS, followed by filtration, centrifugation, dilution and aliquotation of the cell suspensions. The cells were then mixed with either MOC31 coated magnetic beads (anti-EpCAM) or beads without antibodies for control. The samples were incubated under continuous rotation at 4 °C for 30 min, and placed on a magnet to separate bead-bound and unbound cells. The supernatant containing the unbound cells was removed, and fractions of the cell suspension were examined in the light microscope