Abdi K, Thomas LM, Laky K, Abshari M, Matzinger P and Long EO

Immunohorizons. 2020 Jul 14;4(7):415-419

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4049/immunohorizons.2000011

ABSTRACT:

Dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in the initiation of an immune response and are known as “professional” APCs because of their ability to activate naive T cells. A widely used method to generate DCs in vitro is to culture bone marrow (BM) cells or blood monocytes in the presence of GM-CSF and IL-4. In this study, we show that a small population of NK cells residing in the BM of RAG^-/-, but not RAG^-/- γ_c chain^-/- mice, remain in the DC culture and is the source of IFN-γ produced after stimulation with LPS. These cells, which may represent early promoters of LPS-induced responses, have to be taken into account when interpreting experiments using BM-derived DCs.