Interleukin-12p70 Expression by Dendritic Cells of HIV-1-Infected Patients Fails to Stimulate gag-Specific Immune Responses
Figure 4
Stimulatory capacity of DCs from HIV-seropositive individuals after a second stimulation round. Freshly thawed PBLs were directly incubated in ELISpot with gag-derived peptides (Day 0), or PBLs were stimulated for one week with autologous gag mRNA-electroporated DCs (day 7), or PBLs were stimulated for a second week with thawed autologous electroporated DCs and reevaluated in ELISpot (day 14). For this, DCs were matured with a simplified cytokine cocktail (TNF-α and PGE2) or with a simplified cytokine cocktail in combination with IL-12p70 mRNA electroporation (a) and (b), or with a simplified cytokine cocktail in combination with TLR7/8 ligand resiquimod (R848), and IFN-γ (c) and (d). Cocultured PBLs were evaluated for antigen-specific secretion of the following cytokines: IFN-γ (a) and (c) and IL-2 (b) and (d). Results are shown as mean of triplicate analyses for each donor displaying a positive response (), as defined in the Materials and Methods section.
