Growing Murine Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages

Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) are primary macrophages obtained by in vitro differentiation of bone marrow cells in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF or CSF1). They are easy to obtain in high yields, can be stored by freezing, and can be obtained from genetically modified mice strains. They are therefore widely used as prototypical macrophages for in vitro studies. In this chapter, we present the method for obtaining BMDMs and freezing them.