Effects of TGF-β stimulation on mouse splenic dendritic cells / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the mechanisms modulating the functions of dendritic cells (DCs) and suppressing the activation and proliferation of T cells by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β).Methods Mouse splenic DCs were purified with CD11c+ immunomagnetic beads and the purity of isolated DCs were detected by flow cytometry.Gene chip was used to detect gene expression in DCs after stimulation with TGF-β, and then real-time PCR was performed to analyze the differentially expressed genes in microarray at mRNA level.The activation and proliferation of CD4+ T cells which were co-cultured with DCs after stimulation with TGF-β were detected by flow cytometry.Results The purity of DCs reached over 95% after isolation.TGF-β down-regulated the expression of cell surface markers CD53, CD69, CD33, CD74 and CD93 on DCs;decreased the expression of chemokines Ccl3, Ccl5, Ccl9, Ccl6, Ccl17, Cxcl10, Ccl22, Ccl4, Ccr7, Ccl2, Cxcl9 and Ccl7;inhibited the expression of inflammatory cytokines IL-2ra, IL-12rb2, IL-15ra, IL-1b and IL-15.Moreover, the DCs-mediated activation and proliferation of CD4+ T cells were suppressed by TGF-β.Conclusion TGF-β inhibits the DCs-mediated activation and proliferation of CD4+ T cells by suppressing the expression of surface markers on DCs and down-regulating the expression of chemokines and inflammatory cytokines.