Zhongguo Shi Yan Xue Ye Xue Za Zhi. 2003 Aug;11(4):409-15
Cao MD, Sanna A, Xiao BG.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Zhengzhou
University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
A large body of evidence demonstrates that dendritic cells (DC) play a pivotal role in the control of immunity by priming and tolerizing T cells.
In multiple sclerosis (MS), autoreactive T cells are proposed to play a pathogenic role by secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines, but comparison studies on the effects of immature and mature dendritic cells on the cytokines profile of antigen-specific T cell lines are lacking.
To evaluate the actions of dendritic cell maturation on T cell polarization, the effects of immature and mature dendritic cells derived from MS patients on in vitro proliferative responses, and cytokine production by glatiramer acetate (GA)- specific T cell lines (TCL) derived from MS patients were analyzed.
The results demonstrated that it is easy to derive GA-specific TCL from MS patients with high specificity; lipopolysaccharide can efficiently induce DC maturation within 24 hours at a concentration of 5 micro g/ml; mature DC showed higher co-stimulatory capacity of GA-specific TCLs than immature DC.
GA-specific TCLs produce dominantly IL-2, IL-4, IFN-gamma and IL-10, but low levels of IL-6.
In contrast to immature DC, mature DC enhanced capacity to induce IL-6 and IL-10 secretion, but down-regulate IL-2, IL-4 and IFN-gamma production by GA- specific TCLs.
It is concluded that DC maturation status modulating proliferation of TCL and production of cytokines may represent another focus for the study on both immuno-pathogenesis and immunotherapeutic interventions in MS.