title: Mouse neutrophils are professional antigen-presenting cells programmed to instruct Th1 and Th17 T-cell differentiation.
abstract: Neutrophils play a major role in the innate immune system and are normally considered to be short-lived effector cells that exert anti-microbial activity and sometimes immunopathology. Here, we show that these cells possess an additional function as professional antigen-presenting cells capable of priming a T(h)1- and T(h)17-acquired immune response. Using flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy and western blotting, we show that mouse neutrophils express MHC class II and co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86 after T-cell co-incubation. Neutrophils pulsed with ovalbumin (OVA) process and present peptide antigen to OVA-specific T cells in an MHC class II-dependent manner. Importantly, we demonstrate that neutrophils can prime antigen-specific T(h)1 and T(h)17 immune responses even without the addition of exogenous cytokines to cell cultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Delbert S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Abi Abdallah
authors.forename: Charlotte E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Egan
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Butcher
authors.forename: Eric Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Denkers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology*; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D010047:Ovalbumin