title: Phenotypic and functional differentiation of KG-1 into dendritic-like cells.
abstract: The cell line KG-1 has been used as an in vitro model for human dendritic cell (DC) differentiation. We have investigated the response of KG-1 cells to stimulation with a number of factors known to induce differentiation and/or maturation of DCs in vitro. KG-1 cells showed no differentiation in response to LPS, CpG oligodeoxynucleotide or CD40 ligation. Culture in the presence of TNF-alpha induced some differentiation, but only treatment with PMA and ionomycin (with or without prior culture in GM-CSF and IL-4) induced morphological and phenotypic changes consistent with DC-like maturation, and even these maximally differentiated KG-1 cells showed lower levels of surface marker expression, macromolecular endocytosis, and ability to stimulate in allogeneic MLR compared with in vitro monocyte-derived DCs. Our data show that KG-1 cells differentiate in vitro into cells with DC-like functional characteristics under the influence of strong inducers of cellular activation, but lack the potency of mature DCs in key aspects of professional antigen presenting cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Teobald
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Dunnion
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Whitbread
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Curnow
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Browning
mesh_terms: D023201:CD40 Ligand / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D018899:CpG Islands; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000276:immunology; D010873:Pinocytosis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C408982:CPG-oligonucleotide; D016207:Cytokines; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D023201:CD40 Ligand; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate