IL-4 and CD40 ligation affect differently the differentiation, maturation, and function of human CD34+ cell-derived CD1a+CD14- and CD1a-CD14+ dendritic cell precursors in vitro.

We examined the effect of interleukin (IL)-4 or CD40 ligation on the differentiation and maturation of CD1a1CD142 and CD1a2CD141 dendritic cell (DC) precursors. Cord blood CD341 cells were cultured with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a), to which stem cell factor and Flt-3 ligand were added for 5 days. Phenotypic analysis of DC precursors on culture day 7 showed that CD1a1CD142 cells expressed higher CD11c and CD80 levels and lower CD116/GM-CSFR and CCR-5 levels than their CD1a2CD141 counterparts. Culturing CD1a1CD142 precursors with GMCSF and TNF-a resulted in DC with heterogeneous CD1a, HLA;SMDR (DR), CD11b, and CD83 expression, 10% of which acquired CD14. IL-4 and CD40 ligation affected their differentiation in contrasting ways: IL-4 induced CD1ahiCD142 DRloCD11b1CD832S1001 DC with reduced MLRstimulating capacity, whereas CD40 ligation led to CD1alo/-CD142CD402DRhiCD11b2CD831S1001/DC with stronger MLR-stimulating capacity. Also, both IL-4 and CD40 ligation promoted RelB expression and nuclear translocation. When CD1a2CD141 precursors were maintained in only the presence of GM-CSF and TNF-a, this led to mixed populations of adherent macrophages and nonadherent CD1a2CD141 monocytes, and of CD1a1CD142 and CD1a1CD141 DC, which were DRloCD11b1CD832S1002. IL-4 or CD40 ligation prevented their differentiation into macrophages and resulted in DC with phenotypes close to those issued from CD1a1CD142 precursors, with only a minority staying CD141 but most being S1002; their MLRstimulating capacity also increased but remained lower than that of DC differentiated from CD1a1CD142 precursors. Thus, IL-4 or CD40 ligation induced CD1a1CD142 and CD1a2CD141 DC precursors to differentiate into phenotypically close but functionally different DC populations, suggesting that DC function is primarily determined by their origin. The heterogeneity of DC should then be related to different developmental pathways and to different stages of maturation/activation. J. Leukoc. Biol. 64: 235–244; 1998.