Mouse type I IFN-producing cells are immature APCs with plasmacytoid morphology

Carine Asselin-Paturel, Andre Boonstra, Marc Dalod, Isabelle Durand, Nadia Yessaad, Colette Dezutter-Dambuyant, Alain Vicari, Anne O'Garra, Christine Biron, Francine Brière, Giorgio Trinchieri*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

889 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We show here that mouse interferon-α (IFN-α)-producing cells (mIPCs) are a unique subset of immature antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that secrete IFN-α upon stimulation with viruses. mIPCs have a plasmacytoid morphology, can be stained with an antibody to Ly6G and Ly6C (anti-Ly6G/C) and are Ly6C+B220+CDII cloCD4+; unlike other dendritic cell subsets, however, they do not express CD8α or CDIIb. Although mIPCs undergo apoptosis in vitro, stimulation with viruses, IFN-α or CpG oligonucleotides enhanced their survival and T cell stimulatory activity. In vivo, mIPCs were the main producers of IFN-α in cytomegalovirus-infected mice, as depletion of Ly6G+/C+ cells abrogated IFN-α production. mIPCs produced interleukin 12 (IL-12) in response to viruses and CpG oligodeoxynucleotides, but not bacterial products. Although different pathogens can selectively engage various APC subsets for IL-12 production, IFN-α production is restricted to mIPCs' response to viral infection.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1144-1150
Number of pages7
JournalNature Immunology
Volume2
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2001
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank C. Caux for critical reading and C.Alexandre, D. Lepot and M.Vatan for editorial assistance. Supported by NIH grant CA41268 (to C. B.) and the Cancer Research Institute (to M. D.).

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