Ligation of CD40 on dendritic cells triggers production of high levels of interleukin-12 and enhances T cell stimulatory capacity: T-T help via APC activation.

作者：Marina Cella, Doris Scheidegger, Kathrin Palmer-Lehmann, Peter J. L. Lane, Antonio Lanzavecchia, Gottfried Alber · 发表于：The Journal of Experimental Medicine · 年份：1996 · DOI：10.1084/jem.184.2.747 · 被引用次数：2006 · 研究领域：Immunotherapy and Immune Responses、T-cell and B-cell Immunology、Immune Cell Function and Interaction

We investigated the possibility that T helper cells might enhance the stimulatory function of dendritic cells (DCs). We found that ligation of CD40 by CD40L triggers the production of extremely high levels of bioactive IL-12. Other stimuli such as microbial agents, TNF-alpha or LPS are much less effective or not at all. In addition, CD40L is the most potent stimulus in upregulating the expression of ICAM-1, CD80, and CD86 molecules on DCs. These effects of CD40 ligation result in an increased capacity of DCs to trigger proliferative responses and IFN-gamma production by T cells. These findings reveal a new role for CD40-CD40L interaction in regulating DC function and are relevant to design therapeutic strategies using cultured DCs.