Phenotype and cytokine expression of plasmacytoid dendritic cells.

<p>Frequency of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) expressing TLR9 (A), HLA-DR (B), and CCR7 (C) in peripheral blood from untreated MS patients (UNT) and MS patients treated with natalizumab (NTZ) or interferon-β (IFN) determined using flow cytometry. Representative histograms showing TLR9 (D) and HLA-DR (E), staining on PDCs from an UNT (blue open) and a NTZ-treated (red filled) patient. Flow plots showing CCR7 staining on CD49d^hi and CD49d^low PDCs from an UNT (F) and a NTZ-treated (G) patient. Expression of IL-6 (H) and IL-12 (p35) (I) mRNA in PDCs isolated from the patients described in A-C using FACS sorting and rt-PCR without ex-vivo stimulation. Graph shows mean, interquartile range, and min-max range (A–C) or mean and SD (H–I).