Derivation of Macrophages from Mouse Bone Marrow

Macrophages are cellular components of the immune system that are essential for responding to pathogens, initiating inflammation and maintaining tissue homeostasis. Isolation, culture, and functional characterization of bone marrow-derived macrophages from mice are exceptionally powerful in vitro techniques used to examine aspects of macrophage biology, including effector functions, such as phagocytosis, cytokine secretion, oxidative burst, migration, and antigen processing and presentation. These studies can be carried out using wild-type, gene-ablated, and/or transgenic mice. The quantity, purity, and ease of culture of these cells enhance their utility for primary cell cultures to understand macrophage biology. Mouse macrophages have become a cognate animal model for the study of human macrophage biology and disease. This chapter outlines protocols used to generate, polarize, quantitate, and functionally evaluate macrophages derived from bone marrow precursor cells.