A Simple and Rapid Protocol for the Isolation of Murine Bone Marrow Suitable for the Differentiation of Dendritic Cells

Abstract

The generation of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells is a widely used approach in immunological research to study antigen processing and presentation as well as T cell activation responses. However, the initial step of isolating the bone marrow can be time-consuming, especially when larger numbers of precursor cells are required. Here, we assessed whether an accelerated bone marrow isolation method using centrifugation is suitable for the differentiation of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand-driven dendritic cells. Compared to the conventional flushing method, the centrifugation-based isolation method resulted in a similar bone marrow cell yield on day 0, increased cell numbers by day 8, similar proportions of dendritic cell subsets, and consequently a higher number of type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1) from the culture. Although the primary purpose of the method optimization was to improve experimental efficiency and increase the output of cDC1s, the protocol is also compatible with the differentiation of other dendritic cell subsets such as cDC2 and plasmacytoid dendritic cells, with an improved output cell count and a consistent phenotype.