CD4⁺ T-cell anergy induced by lin^-CD117(c-kit) ⁺ stem cell-derived immature dendritic cells loaded with nuclear antigen derived from Trypanosoma equiperdum

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells, which have the extraordinary capacity to initiate nave T-cell-mediated primary immune responses. To investigate the role of DCs in the induction of antigen-specific tolerance, the immature DCs (imDCs) and mature DCs (mDCs) were generated in vitro from lin^-CD117(c-kit)⁺ stem cells isolated from mice bone marrow. Flow cytometry and confocal microscopy were used to characterize the phenotypes of DCs. These cells were loaded with nuclear antigen derived from Trypanosoma equiperdum and then co-cultured with nave CD4⁺ T cells. It was found that imDC-treated T cells had lower proliferation level and cytokine expression of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-12, and interferon-γ compared with mDC-treated T cells. These results demonstrated that the maturation status of DCs is critical for preventing the production of autoantibodies.