Because of their central role in recognition and presentation of antigens as well as in activation of immune response, dendritic cells are increasingly being used for cell vaccine preparation in research for cancer treatment. To induce tumour-specific immune response of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells, the complete maturation status and high migratory capacity of dendritic cells to the secondary lymphoid organs are required. Ex vivo generation of dendritic cells includes differentiation and maturation in the cell culture medium that must provide an appropriate environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential use of allogeneic platelet lysate as a serum-free medium supplement for differentiation, maturation, and cultivation of human dendritic cells. We focused on the characterisation of key functional properties.
Using immunomagnetic selection we isolated CD14+ monocytes from the buffy coat and differentiated them into immature dendritic cells in RPMI 1640 cell culture medium supplemented with 10% of human platelet lysate. As a reference, we used serum-free CellGenix® medium supplemented with 1% of human AB serum. By culturing dendritic cells in the presence of three different maturation cocktails consisting of Toll-like receptor agonists and inflammatory cytokines, we obtained dendritic cells with different migratory capacity and the capacity to induce allogeneic T-cell responses.
The addition of platelet lysate enabled the differentiation and maturation of dendritic cells with a high capacity of migration towards chemokine CCL19 and a potential to stimulate allogeneic CD4+ T cells. High interferon-? concentrations, measured after T-cell activation with dendritic cells, confirmed the capacity of dendritic cells to induce type 1 polarisation of na?ve CD4+ T cells. Dendritic cells generated in the presence of platelet lysate displayed lower capacity to stimulate allogeneic CD8+ T cells in comparison to dendritic cells from the reference medium. After stimulation with dendritic cells generated in the presence of platelet lysate, CD8+ T cells displayed reduced cytotoxic activity with lower interferon-? production and decreased intracellular granzyme B expression.
The presence of allogeneic platelet lysate improved the chemotactic migratory potential, but displayed inhibitory effect on the allo-stimulatory function of dendritic cells. The results of our study could open the possibility of investigating the use of platelet lysate for generation of dendritic cells focused on other activation stages, for example, with immunosupressive properties.
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