Objective: To investigate the role of interleukin-37 (IL-37) in regulating the activation of mouse dendritic cells (DCs) induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS).
Methods: The mouse bone marrow cells was induced to differentiate into DCs with GM-CSF and IL-4. DCs were purified with anti-CD11c immunomagnetic beads. After pretreated with IL-37, DCs were stimulated by LPS. Then the levels of co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86 on DCs were detected by flow cytometry. The mRNA levels of inflammation cytokines tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), IL-6 and IL-1α were determined by real-time quantitative PCR. The protein levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-1α, IL-6, TNF-α were measured by cytometric beads array (CBA) kit.
Results: We induced successfully DCs and obtained a high purity of DCs (>90%) with anti-CD11c immunomagnetic beads. After stimulated by LPS, the levels of co-stimulating molecules CD80, CD86 on IL-37-treated DCs were reduced, and the expressions of the cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1α were also down-regulated at both mRNA and protein levels.
Conclusion: IL-37 plays a critical role in inhibiting LPS-induced DCs activation via suppressing production of co-stimulatory molecules CD80, CD86 and pro-inflammatory cytokines.