A stepwise procedure for isolation of murine bone marrow and generation of dendritic cells

Bone marrow derived Dendritic cells (BMDCs) are routinely employed in cell based assays to evaluate immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activities. Hence, simplified, stepwise, defined and standardized methods are required for isolation of bone marrow cells from mice, propagating them in presence of growth factors and obtaining high and reproducible yields of BMDCs. Here, we describe a detailed, stepwise protocol with pictorial representation to isolate bone marrow from mouse femur and development of dendritic cells. Mouse bone marrow cells are cultured in presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for 6 days to generate BMDCs.