title: Influence of interleukin-4 on the phenotype and function of bone marrow-derived murine dendritic cells generated under serum-free conditions.
abstract: Murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DC) can be generated by culture in the presence of granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) alone or GM-CSF in conjunction with interleukin-4 (IL-4). However, these two culture methods result in the production of heterogeneous DC populations with distinct phenotypic and stimulatory properties. In this study, we investigated the properties of DC generated under serum-free conditions in the presence or absence of IL-4 and compared their yield and phenotype to that of DC generated in the presence of fetal calf serum (FCS) (+/-IL-4). We did not observe a significant difference in the total cell yield between these four culture conditions, although the proportion of CD11c+ DC in cultures that received FCS was higher than that of their counterparts generated under serum-free conditions. Also, the four culture conditions generated CD11c+ DC with comparable levels of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II, CD40, CD80 and CD86 expression, with the exception of cells cultured under serum-free conditions in the absence of IL-4, which displayed suboptimal levels of these markers. Moreover, we compared the functional and stimulatory properties of DC generated under serum-free conditions in the presence or absence of IL-4. DC cultured in the presence of IL-4 were stronger stimulators of allogeneic splenocytes in a primary mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and of naive antigen-specific OT-II transgenic T cells when pulsed with the class II ovalbumin (OVA)323-339 peptide or whole OVA protein than DC cultured in the absence of IL-4. However, both DC populations displayed a similar capacity to take up fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-albumin by macropinocytosis and FITC-Dextran by the mannose receptor and to secrete IL-12 in response to stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or an agonistic anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody. Therefore, we conclude that although both DC culture methods result in the production of DC with similar functional abilities, under serum-free conditions, DC cultured in GM-CSF and IL-4 show an increased stimulatory potential over DC cultured in GM-CSF alone. This is an important consideration in the design of experiments where DC are being exploited as immunotherapeutic vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematological and Molecular Medicine, The Rayne Institute, GKT School of Medicine, King's College London, Camberwell, London, UK.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Darling
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farzaneh
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galea-Lauri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D039521:CD11c Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D039521:CD11c Antigen; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D015847:Interleukin-4; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; D010047:Ovalbumin