title: Activation of cloned human CD4+ Th1 and Th2 cells by blood dendritic cells.
abstract: Dendritic cells (DC) have been reported to be the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APC) for the activation of naive T cells and to be 10-100-fold more potent APC than monocytes (M phi) in the mixed lymphocyte reaction. In this study the authors compared human blood DC with M phi and B cells for their ability to activate cloned rye grass allergen Lol p I specific CD4+ Th1 and Th2 cells. In the presence of Lol p I, all three types of APC activated Th1 and Th2 cells to a similar extent, as shown by T-cell proliferation and interferon-gamma, interleukin-2 (IL-2) or IL-4 secretion. However, at low APC:T cell ratios, M phi were the most potent APC for both Th1 and Th2 cells followed in decreasing order by DC and B cells. This hierarchy was observed with APC preparations isolated by negative selection or highly purified by positive selection using fluorescent cell sorting for HLA-DR(high)-DC, CD14(pos)-M phi and CD19(pos)-B cells. The data demonstrate that, in contrast to what has been reported for naive T cells, human blood DC activate cloned memory Th1 and Th2 cells to a similar extent as M phi and B cells presumably because the requirements for activation of memory type T cells are less stringent than those for naive T cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of California at San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla 92093-0609, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Spiegelberg
mesh_terms: D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002999:Clone Cells; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*