Macrophagesarecellsdifferentiatedfromcirculatingbonemarrow-derivedmonocytes.Inthebonemarrowandsubsequestlyinthebloodandtissues,monocytesundergoacascadeofmaturationthatculminateinmorphologicallyandfunctionallymaturetissuemacrophages[1].Macrophagesfunctiontoremovalcellulardebrisandinvadingpathogens.Theyphagocytizeinvadingmicroorganisms,andscavengedead,damagedcellsandcellulardebris.MacrophagescanbeidentifiedbythespecificexpressionofseveralcellsurfaceproteinsincludingCD14,CD11b,F4/80(mice)/EMR1(human),MAC-1/MAC-3,andCD68byflowcytometryorimmunohistochemicalstaining[2].

MMa-bmfromScienCellResearchLaboratoriesareisolatedfromadultmousebonemarrow.MMa-bmareharvestedatP0anddeliveredfrozen.Eachvialcontains>1x10^6cellsin1mlvolume.MMa-bmarecharacterizedbyimmunofluorescencewithantibodyspecifictoF4/80.MMa-bmarenegativeformycoplasma,bacteria,yeast,andfungi.MMa-bmareguaranteedtofurthercultureundertheconditionsprovidedbyScienCellResearchLaboratories;however,MMa-bmarenotrecommendedforexpandingorlong-termculturessincethecellsdonotproliferateinregularculture.