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Infection and Immunity, July 2006, p. 4282-4294, Vol. 74, No. 7
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01714-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Phenotypic and Functional Characterization of Vaginal Dendritic Cells in a Rat Model of Candida albicans Vaginitis

Department of Infectious Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy,¹ Department of Experimental Medicine and Public Health, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy,² Department of Experimental Medicine and Pathology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy³

Received 20 October 2005/ Returned for modification 10 November 2005/ Accepted 12 April 2006

This study analyzes the phenotype of vaginal dendritic cells (VDCs), their antigenic presentation and activation of T-cell cytokine secretion, and their protective role in a rat model of Candida vaginitis. Histological observation demonstrated a significant accumulation of OX62⁺ VDCs in the mucosal epithelium of Candida albicans-infected rats at the third round of infection. We identified two subsets of OX62⁺ VDCs differing in the expression of CD4 molecule in both noninfected and Candida-infected rats. The OX62⁺ CD4⁺ subset of VDCs displayed a lymphoid cell-like morphology and expressed the T-cell antigen CD5, whereas the OX62⁺ CD4^– VDC subset exhibited a myeloid morphology and was CD5 negative. Candida infection resulted in VDC maturation with enhanced expression of CD80 and CD134L on both CD4⁺ and CD4^– VDC subsets at 2 and 6 weeks after Candida infection. CD5^– CD4^– CD86^– CD80^– CD134L⁺ VDCs from infected, but not noninfected, rats spontaneously released large amounts of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and tumor necrosis factor alpha, whereas all VDC subsets released comparable levels of IL-10 and IL-2 cytokines. Furthermore, OX62⁺ VDCs from infected rats primed naïve CD4⁺ T-cell proliferation and release of cytokines, including gamma interferon, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-10, in response to staphylococcal enterotoxin B stimulation in vitro. Adoptive transfer of highly purified OX62⁺ VDCs from infected rats induced a significant acceleration of fungal clearance compared with that in rats receiving naive VDCs, suggesting a protective role of VDCs in the anti-Candida mucosal immunity. Finally, VDC-mediated protection was associated with their ability to rapidly migrate to the vaginal mucosa and lymph nodes, as assessed by adoptive transfer of OX62⁺ VDCs labeled with 5 (and 6-)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester.

Editor: A. Casadevall

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Cassone, A., De Bernardis, F., Santoni, G. (2007). Anticandidal Immunity and Vaginitis: Novel Opportunities for Immune Intervention. Infect. Immun. 75: 4675-4686 [Full Text]