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Updated: May 25, 2026
Isolation and Culture of Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages from Mice
Published on: June 23, 2023
Generation of mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages
1School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Abstract:
Isolation of resident macrophages from mouse tissues involves complex procedures for a small yield. This is inconvenient for many functional macrophage assays, which require large numbers of relatively homogeneous cells. An alternative method is the culture of bone marrow cells in vitro with appropriate growth factors, to allow the differentiation of precursor cells into large numbers of macrophages. This procedure is easy and inexpensive except for the use of M-CSF, the macrophage colony stimulating factor, and it is characterised by high yield and reproducibility. Once obtained, bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) can be used for a considerable number of functional and structural assays and are commonly regarded as a model for the role of resident macrophages in the innate immune system.
Insights
Generating large numbers of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) in vitro offers a reproducible and cost-effective alternative to isolating resident macrophages. This method provides ample cells for various innate immune system assays.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Isolating resident macrophages from mouse tissues is challenging, yielding few cells.
- Functional macrophage assays often require large, homogeneous cell populations, posing a significant hurdle.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present an alternative method for generating a large quantity of macrophages for research.
- To highlight the utility of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) as a model for resident macrophages.
Main Methods:
- Culturing mouse bone marrow cells in vitro with growth factors.
- Utilizing macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) for differentiation.
- Characterizing the yield and reproducibility of the BMM generation process.
Main Results:
- The in vitro culture method provides a high yield of macrophages.
- This procedure is reproducible and cost-effective, with the exception of M-CSF cost.
- Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) are suitable for numerous functional and structural assays.
Conclusions:
- In vitro differentiation of bone marrow cells is a practical method for obtaining large numbers of macrophages.
- BMMs serve as a valuable model for studying resident macrophage functions in innate immunity.
