Figure 5
IL-12p70 production following CD40 ligation ("signal-3 assay"). Dendritic cells were differentiated in the presence of GM-CSF + IL-4 for 6 days (control IL-4 DCs), or in the presence of GM-CSF + IL-15 for 2 days (short-term IL-15 DCs) or 6 days (long-term IL-15 DCs). Dendritic cell maturation was induced by addition of two different maturation cocktails 24 hr prior to DC harvest (cc-mDC: TNF-α, IL1β, IL-6 and PGE2; TLR-mDC: R-848, IFN-γ, TNF-α and PGE2). Production of the Th1-polarizing cytokine IL-12p70 was assessed by ELISA after a 24-hr coculture of mDCs and CD40L-expressing 3T3 fibroblasts, as specified in "Methods". Results are shown from 3-9 independent experiments, each symbol expressing the mean of triplicate ELISA values obtained from one individual donor. The horizontal bars represent the mean IL-12p70 production in pg/mL per condition (*, P = 0.02).