[Effects of delta1 gene transfection on biological behaviors of rat dendritic cells].

Aim: To explore the effects of Delta1 gene on rat bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs).

Methods: pcDNA3.1/delta1 plasmid was transfected into Rat DCs with lipofectamine gene transfection method. The expression of activation markers(Iad, CD80 and CD86) were examined by flow cytometry, the release of cytokines IL-12 were examined by ELISA and the stimulatory capacity of the resulting DCs in vitro were examined by mixed lymphocyte reaction(MLR).

Results: The biological character of DCs in experimental group, empty vector group and control group were examined by electron microscope, flow cytometry and cell growth rate counting. There were no differences of cell cycles, ultrastructure and cell growth rate among these three group cells (P>0.05). It stated that delta1 gene had no effect on the growth of DCs. Even at the stimulation of LPS, In the delta1 transfected DCs, we observed no significant effects on the expression of activation markers(Iad, CD80 or CD86). The release of IL-12 in DCs/delta1 was reduced compared with control DCs(P<0.05). The levels of IFN-gamma and IL-2 of the DCs/delta1 were significantly lower than those of the DCs(P<0.05), and the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were significantly higher than that in control DCs(P<0.05).

Conclusion: Our data demonstrates that the delta1 gene transfection does not interfere with the differentiation or maturation of DCs, but reduce the ability to stimulating T cells, and the mechanism may be related to the decrease of Th1 /Th2 ratio by impairing the production of DCs-derived IL-12.