THE ROLE OF DMSO IN THE REGULATION OF IMMUNE RESPONSES BY DENDRITIC CELLS

Abstract

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a common agent for cryo-preservation despite its known toxicity. Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent in antigen uptake when immature, but become potent antigen presenting cells (APCs) upon maturation. Macrophages (MFs) are professional phagocytes. DMSO primed macrophages and DCs displayed differential cytokine production when stimulated with IFN-gamma/LPS. DMSO primed DCs showed significant up-regulation of IL-12 and down-regulation of IL-10 production upon IFN-gamma/LPS stimulation. IL-23 production by DCs was also up-regulated by DMSO priming. Macrophage displayed a more tolerogenic profile and was not as responsive in response to DMSO priming unless GM-CSF was used to differentiate macrophages derived from monocytes. Cellular viability, morphology, antigen and maturation markers were not affected by DMSO priming. This study investigates the regulation of immune responses by DMSO primed DCs and how DMSO affects DCs in the cytokine production, morphology, and the ability to activate naive T cells to mount an adaptive response.