Figure 5.

Mitochondrial ROS are required for DC activation by IMQ stimulation. (A) WT DCs in the presence or absence of mitoquinone were stimulated with 5 or 25 μg/mL IMQ and analyzed for the expression of mitochondrial ROS (MitoSOX). Data are shown as means ± SDs (n = 4). (B, C) WT DCs in the presence or absence of mitoquinone were stimulated with IMQ and analyzed to quantify the expression of cell surface markers CD86 and CD40 (C). Numbers in the top right corners indicate the percentages of CD86⁺ CD40⁺ cells (B, left). Pooled results from three independent experiments are shown (B, right). Data are shown as means ± SDs of triplicate samples. (D, E) Cytokine production was compared among WT DCs exposed to mock treatment or mitoquinone. Cells were stimulated with 5 or 25 μg/mL IMQ for 24 h in the presence or absence of inhibitors. Data indicate the levels of IL-1β (D) and IL-23 (E) in cell culture supernatants (means ± SDs of triplicate wells). Data are shown as means ± SDs. *p < 0.05 versus mock treatment. Data are representative of three independent experiments.