Changes in gene expression of human monocyte derived dendritic cells exposed to live Borrelia burdgorferi or LTA

Dendritic cells bridge the innate and adaptive immune response by serving as sensors of infection and as the primary antigen presenting cells responsible for the initiation of the T cell response against invading pathogens. Initial interactions between B. burgdorferi, the causative agent of Human Lyme disease, and dendritic cells remain largely unexplored. To address this, we cultured monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) with and without the Toll-Like Receptor 2 agonist LTA or live B. burgdorferi and examined changes in gene expression using RNAseq. We observed that B. burgdorferi exposed moDCs display a distinct and novel gene expression signature that differs from that induced by the Toll-Like Receptor 2 reference agonist. Collectively these studies indicate that the interaction of live B. burgdorferi with mo-DCs promotes a unique mature DC phenotype that likely impacts the nature of the adaptive T cell response generated in human Lyme disease. We isolated monocytes derived dendritic cells (moDCs) from seven different human subjects. MoDCs were either left unstimlulated or stimulated them in vitro with either Lipotechoic Acid (LTA) or two different stains of Borrelia burdorferi (A3 and Bb31) . We also used multiplicities of infection (moi) of 1 and 10 bacteria/cell. Thre stimulaiton was carreid out for 8 and 24hrs after which cells were harvested and RNA extracted for RNAseq analysis.