Figure 6.

Functional activity of CpG-treated peripheral blood DCs. DCs were incubated with GMCSF (800 units/ml) or the CpG oligonucleotide 2006 (2 μg/ml) as indicated. After 48 h, cells were harvested, and an allogeneic MLR was performed using viable DCs (trypan blue exclusion) or CD14-positive monocytes (immunomagnetic separation) from the same donor as stimulator cells. Lymphocytes (monocyte-depleted PBMC, CFSE-stained, see Materials and Methods) from a different donor were used as responder cells. After 5 days of coincubation, proliferation of CD3 (phycoerythrin)-positive T cells was determined by quantification of CFSE (proliferating cells show lower CFSE staining). Histograms for the stimulator-to-responder ratio 1:1,000 are shown. Data are representative for two independent experiments performed in duplicate.