LMW HA treatment increases migratory response of DC toward CCL21 inducing their CCR7 expression and increases their migratory response toward lymph node supernatant.

<p>a) Migratory ability of DC treated or not with LMW HA toward CCR7 ligand CCL21 (200 ng/ml) was evaluated in a Boyden chamber system. DC were loaded into the upper well of the chamber and CCL21 was added to the lower chamber. Data are expressed as DC/TL and DC/TL/LMW HA migration index. Poly (I:C) was used as a positive control of maturation stimulus. b) CCR7 expression was examined by qPCR. Black bars represent CCR7 fold-change expression in comparison with DC/TL. c) Similar chemotaxis assays were set up placing lymph node supernatant from tumor bearing nude mice in the lower chamber as chemoattractant. Bars represent DC migration index from both HD and CRC patients. Gray bar: DC/TL; black bar: DC/TL/LMW HA; white bar: DC/TL/Poly (I:C). DC/TL vs DC/TL/LMW HA. Mann Whitney t test; * p≤0.05; **p≤0.01.