Immature dendritic cells generated from cryopreserved human monocytes show impaired ability to respond to LPS and to induce allogeneic lymphocyte proliferation.

Dendritic cells play a key role in the immune system, in the sensing of foreign antigens and triggering of an adaptive immune response. Cryopreservation of human monocytes was investigated to understand its effect on differentiation into immature monocyte-derived dendritic cells (imdDCs), the response to inflammatory stimuli and the ability to induce allogeneic lymphocyte proliferation. Cryopreserved (crp)-monocytes were able to differentiate into imdDCs, albeit to a lesser extent than freshly (frh)-obtained monocytes.