Collaboration between human blood dendritic cells and monocytes in antigen presentation

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Abstract
We compared human blood dendritic cells and monocytes for their capacity to produce secreted and membrane interleukin 1 (IL-1), stimulate mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR) and augment microbial antigen-induced T lymphocyte proliferation. Our enriched dendritic cell and monocyte fractions contained > 80% and > 93% dendritic cells and monocytes, respectively. Monocytes produced about ten times higher amounts of membrane and secreted IL-1 than dendritic cells, which in turn were more potent in presenting HLA-DR antigens in MLR. Both accessory cell types presented purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD) equally well, whereas monocytes were better with fixed Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) bacteria. Processing of BCG was chloroquine-sensitive. Coculture experiments suggested that there was collaboration or synergy between dendritic cells and monocytes in antigen processing and presentation.