A subset of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells expresses high levels of interleukin-12 in response to combined CD40 ligand and interferon-gamma treatment.

Publication/Presentation Date

11-15-2000

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DCs) may arise from multiple lineages and progress through a series of intermediate stages until fully mature, at which time they are capable of optimal antigen presentation and T-cell activation. High cell surface expression of CD83 is presumed to correlate with full maturation of DCs, and a number of agents have been shown to increase CD83 expression on DCs. We hypothesized that interleukin 12 (IL-12) expression would be a more accurate marker of functionally mature DCs capable of activating antigen-specific T cells. We used combinations of signaling through CD40, using CD40 ligand trimer (CD40L), and interferon gamma to demonstrate that CD83 expression is necessary but not sufficient for optimal production of IL-12 by DCs. Phenotypically mature DCs could be induced to produce high levels of IL-12 p70 only when provided 2 simultaneous stimulatory signals. By intracellular cytokine detection, we determined that only a subset of cells that express high levels of CD80 and CD83 generate large amounts of IL-12. DCs matured with both signals are superior to DCs stimulated with the individual agents in activating antigen-specific T cell in vitro. These findings have important implications regarding the identification, characterization, and clinical application of functionally mature DCs.

Volume

96

Issue

10

First Page

3499

Last Page

3504

ISSN

0006-4971

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

11071647

Department(s)

Department of Medicine

Document Type

Article

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS