Immune regulatory activity of liver‐derived dendritic cells generated in vivo

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Abstract
Hepatic tolerance is demonstrated by spontaneous acceptance of liver allografts in mice. Hepatic dendritic cells (DC) play a crucial role in determining immunity or tolerance. In this study, we adopted an approach to transfect gene(s) into the mouse liver by tail‐vein injection of plasmid‐carrying genes. Transfection with GM‐CSF expanded liver CD11c+ myeloid DC (LMDC), while liver B220+CD11c− lymphoid DC (LLDC) were expanded after transfection of IL‐3 and CD40L. Flow analysis revealed that these liver DC subsets were phenotypically mature following overnight culture. However, in contrast to LMDC, LLDC induced hyporesponsiveness in allogeneic T‐cells, with suppressed secretion of both IL‐2 and IFN‐γ, and prolonged cardiac allograft survival. This immune regulatory DC population in the liver may play a role in modulating T‐cell immunity in the liver. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Microsurgery 26: 17–20, 2006.