Short-Term Preservation of Mouse Bone Marrow at Refrigeration and Room Temperature for Irradiation Experiments

¹ From the Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Storage of normal mouse bone marrow was carried out to determine the maximum time donor marrow cells were capable of promoting recovery in lethally irradiated mice. The mouse bone marrow was stored in cell suspension, in intact excised femurs, and in intact femurs in the mouse cadaver. Temperature conditions of storage were refrigeration (2°–5°C) and room temperature (22°–25°C). Tyrode's solution was employed as the storage medium. Evaluation of the stored marrow was based on its ability to protect isologous lethally irradiated mice. Maximum storage time at 2°–5°C for cadaver femurs was 3 days, for excised femurs it was 4 days and for cell suspensions it was 5 days. Donor marrow stored at room temperature was effective in cell suspensions up to 2 days and in intact femurs for 1 day. Cadaver femurs showed no activity after 1 day. Short-term preservation of mouse bone marrow for irradiation experiments is feasible for a few days, depending on the conditions of storage and the temperature of storage.