Submicrometre sampling of living cells by macrophages

No sample size calculations were performed before the study. Sample sizes were determined to be acceptable based on the magnitude of effect size from previous or preliminary experiments. Experiments were not randomized. Investigators were not blinded to group allocation during data collection. Mice Mice were housed and bred under specific pathogen-free conditions, maintained on a 12–12 h light–dark cycle, controlled temperature of 20–26 °C and humidity of 30–70%, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Laboratory Animal Research Center. All experiments conformed to ethical principles and guidelines approved by the UCSF Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, the National Institutes of Health and the American Association of Laboratory Animal Care. C57BL/6 (RRID: MGI:2159769 ), Ai6 (ref. 31 ) (mTmG), B6;129P2- Fcer1g tm1Rav /J ( Fcer1g KO, RRID: MGI:2162818 ) 32 and BALB/c (RRID: MGI:2161072 ) mice were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory or bred in-house. Both male and female mice ranging from 6 to 20 weeks old were used for experiments. Food and water were provided ad libitum. To generate ZsGreen reporter mice, Ai6 mice were crossbred with K14 cre , Scgb1a1 creERT2 , Vil1 cre or Actb cre mice. To induce ZsGreen expression in Scgb1a1 creERT2 ;Ai6 mice, mice were fed tamoxifen-containing chow ad libitum for 2 weeks. …