Phenotypic and functional modulation of porcine monocyte-derived dendritic cells for foot-and-mouth disease virus

Dendritic cells (DCs) play an important role in inducing primary antigen-specific immune responses to viral antigens. In this study, the peripheral blood monocyte-derived (PBMC) were cultured in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin (IL)-4. After 6 days of culture, immature monocyte-derived dendritic cells (Mo-DCs) were generated. The addition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) during differentiation of Mo-DCs enhanced their ability to stimulate allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and alter their ability to produce cytokines. Then, we investigated the interaction between foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) and porcine Mo-DCs in vitro and confirmed that the immunological phenotype and function of porcine Mo-DCs were modulated during FMDV infection. A down-regulated expression of MHC II and CD1 were observed at 48 h post FMDV infection. In addition, the infected porcine Mo-DCs exhibited ultrastructural morphological changes, FMDV-infected porcine Mo-DCs failed to stimulate T cell proliferation in vitro. Moreover, infection of porcine Mo-DCs in vitro induced the secretion of IFN-γ and the suppressive cytokine IL-10 in porcine Mo-DCs. Results indicated that the down-regulation of MHC II and CD1 molecules and the increased secretion of the IFN-γ and IL-10 cytokines might be the mechanisms that FMDV uses to evade the host immune responses.Key words: Dendritic cells, foot-and-mouth disease virus, MHC II, modulation, cytokines