Abstract
BackgroundDendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that have multiple subpopulations with different phenotypes and immune functions. Previous research demonstrated that DCs have strong potential for anti-viral defense in the host. However, viruses including alphaherpesvirinae have developed strategies to interfere with the function or maturation of DCs, causing immune dysfunction and avoidance of pathogen elimination. The goal of the present study was to isolate and characterize equine lung-derived DCs (L-DCs) for use in studies of respiratory viruses and compare their features with equine blood-derived DCs (B-DCs), which are currently used for these types of studies.ResultsWe found that L-DCs were morphologically similar to B-DCs. Overall, B-DCs demonstrated higher expression of CD86 and CD172α than L-DCs, but both cell types expressed high levels of MHC class II and CD44, as well as moderate amounts of CD163, CD204, and Bla36. In contrast, the endocytic activity of L-DCs was elevated compared to that of B-DCs. Finally, mononuclear cells isolated from lung (L-MCs), which are used as precursors for L-DCs, expressed more antigen-presenting cell-associated markers such as MHC class II and CD172α compared to their counterparts from blood.ConclusionsOur results indicate that L-DCs may be in an earlier differentiation stage compared to B-DCs. Concurrent with this observation, L-MCs possessed significantly more antigen-uptake capacity compared to their counterparts from blood. It is likely that L-DCs play an important role in antigen uptake and processing of respiratory pathogens and are major contributors to respiratory tract immunity and may be ideal tools for future in vitro or ex vivo studies.
Highlights
Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that have multiple subpopulations with different phenotypes and immune functions
Lymphoid lineage DCs primarily differentiate into plasmacytoid DCs and occupy approximately 0.5% of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in humans [2], but the cell population percentage is unclear in horses
Morphology of mononuclear cells and dendritic cells Microscopically, freshly isolated PBMCs were roundshaped with a moderate amount of cytoplasm and an euchromatic nucleus
Summary
Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that have multiple subpopulations with different phenotypes and immune functions. Conventional lineage DCs generally differentiate into myeloid DCs which originally come from tissues, such as epithelial or interstitial DCs. Blood monocyte-derived DCs (B-DCs), as one group of myeloid DCs, can be generated by incubation of monocytes that are isolated from PBMCs with exogenous granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) for 6–7 days [3]. Blood monocyte-derived DCs (B-DCs), as one group of myeloid DCs, can be generated by incubation of monocytes that are isolated from PBMCs with exogenous granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) for 6–7 days [3] This approach produces a highly-differentiated DC population, which is specialized in antigen presentation and T cell priming [3,4,5]
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