Flow chart of isolation and examples of applications for BMMs. Cells are isolated from bone marrow and cultured in vitro. BMMs are suitable for numerous applications including, but not limited to, the examples shown here. (A) Morphological examination of cytospins using histological stains (e.g., May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining to visualize nuclei and granules). (B) Assays for phagocytic capacity. Fluorescence microscopy is used to visualize DAPI-stained nuclei (blue), phalloidin-FITC-labeled cytoskeletons (green), and phagocytosed Alexa Fluor 594-conjugated zymosan A bioparticles (red). The zymosan A bioparticles appear yellow as they colocalize with the green phalloidin marker. (C) Gene expression analyses. Because of their homogeneity, BMMs are an excellent primary cell source. (D) Transfection studies. Transfection of BMMs using an Amaxa Nucleofector system results in 40%-50% transfection efficiency. BMMs were transfected with 1 μg of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing plasmid and were assayed 24 h later for GFP expression (red) compared to mock transfected controls (blue).