title: CD40-activated B cells are more potent than immature dendritic cells to induce and expand CD4(+) regulatory T cells.
abstract: CD4(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an important role in maintaining immune tolerance by suppressing pathologic immune responses. The generation of large numbers of antigen-specific Tregs ex vivo is critical for the development of clinical immunotherapy based on the adoptive transfer of Tregs. Both CD40-activated B cells (CD40-B) and immature dendritic cells (imDCs) have been used as professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to generate antigen-specific Tregs. However, the efficiencies of CD40-B and imDCs to generate CD4(+) Tregs have not been compared directly and the mechanism driving the generation of these Tregs remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that CD40-B exhibited mature phenotypes and were more able to induce and expand CD4(high)CD25(+) Tregs than imDCs. Moreover, Tregs induced by CD40-B had greater suppressive capacity than those induced by imDCs. The generation of CD4(high)CD25(+) Tregs by CD40-B and imDCs is cell-cell contact dependent and partially relies on the expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR and CD80/86. Differences in CD4(high)CD25(+) Treg generation efficiency were largely explained by the production of endogenous IL-2 by CD40-B. Our results suggest that CD40-B is better able to generate large numbers of antigen-specific Tregs than imDCs. Additionally, using CD40-B to generate Tregs may accelerate the clinical use of Treg-based immunotherapy in the treatment of allograft rejection, graft versus host disease (GVHD) and autoimmune diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Yinping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yu-Lung
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Wenwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tu
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D019013:CD40 Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D002450:Cell Communication; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000276:immunology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D019013:CD40 Antigens; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit