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Studies assessing the function of monocyte derived dendritic cells (MD-DC) in individuals with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have shown conflicting results. Impaired MD-DC function in chronic HCV infection would have important implications both for understanding the pathogenesis of HCV infection and in the use of autologous MD-DC in vaccination strategies. We determined the allostimulatory capacity of MD-DC in the same patient before and after HCV infection. Next, the phenotype, cytokine production and allostimulatory function of immature and mature MD-DC in individuals with persistent HCV infection were compared directly with MD-DC from healthy individuals. Finally, we assessed the ability of MD-DC to prime autologous naïve peptide specific CD8+ T cells using HLA-A2 class-I tetramers. DCs retained the same allostimulatory capacity before and following the establishment of persistent HCV infection. The surface phenotype and the amount of interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-12(p70) produced during DC maturation did not differ between HCV-infected individuals and healthy controls. Mature DCs from HCV-infected individuals performed comparably in an allogeneic MLR compared with healthy individuals. Mature MD-DC from HCV-infected individuals stimulated the expansion of peptide specific naïve CD8+ T cells. MD-DC from HCV-infected and healthy individuals are phenotypically indistinguishable and perform comparably in functional assays.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-2893.2007.00934.x

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Viral Hepat

Publication Date

03/2008

Volume

15

Pages

219 - 228

Keywords

Adult, Antigens, Surface, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Cell Proliferation, Cells, Cultured, Dendritic Cells, Female, Hepatitis C, Chronic, Humans, Interleukin-10, Interleukin-12, Lymphocyte Activation, Male, Middle Aged