A novel flow cytometry-based quantitative monocyte adhesion assay to estimate endothelial cell activation .

One of the earliest events in the development of atherosclerosis is endothelial activation, which is estimated at the functional level by quantifying monocyte adhesion. This involves the incubation of fluorescently labeled monocytes on top of cultured endothelial cells and quantifying the number of adhered monocytes. Currently, the quantification of adhered monocytes is done using microscopy or by lysing the cells and estimating the fluorescence.