Culture of Tonsillar Follicular Dendritic Cells

Sung, Myung Whun; Rhee, Chae Seo; Lee, Hyun Ju; Jeon, Sang Jun; Koh, Tae Yong; Kwon, Tae Young; Park, Seok Won; Choi, Seung Ho; Koo, Ja Won

Abstract

Presentation of antigen in a suitable form to lymphocytes is prerequsite for the initiation of primary immune response. Dendritic cells (DC) provide an effective pathway for presenting antigens to lymphocytes in situ. The aim of this study was to establish a dendritic cell-line from human tonsils and to investigate the changes in surface phenotype during culture. Immunohistochemical studies using various surface markers indicated that cultured DC were follicular dendritic cells (FDC) from human tonsils. Cultured DC showed typical dendritic morphology at early stage of culture. Their shape changed into fibroblast-like cells over culture time. Surface phenotype study suggested that cultured DC were distinct from human fibroblast. Antigenic pattern of FDC was changed during culture; I-ILA-DR antigens decreased and HJ2 antigens increased with aging of culture. Functional characteristics of human tosillar FDC will be investigated in the future.