Expression data from airway epithelial cell-conditioned monocyte-derive dendritic cells

Dendritic cells differentiate from their precursors in the airway mucosa under local environmental instruction. Airway epithelial cells (AEC) are a potent source of both pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators and are in intimate contact with intraepithelial DC and their precursors. Thus, AEC are likely candidates for influencing this differentiation process in order to tailor the DC for optimal function in the airway mucosa. We used Affymetirx microarrays to compare the gene expression profiles of monocyte derived DC (MDDC) populations differentiated with IL-4 and GM-CSF in the presence or absence of 16HBE 14o- epithelial cells. Keywords: Comparison of two cell populations 16HBE 14o- epithelial cells were grown to semiconfluency in EMEM media supplemented with 10% FCS before CD14+ peripheral blood monocytes were added to the AEC with recombinant IL-4 and GM-CSF. In parallel, monocytes were added to empty wells in media with IL-4/GM-CSF without the presence of the AEC. Cells were cultured for 5 days at 37°C and 5%CO2 with media supplementation on day 3. At the end of culture, cells were harvested and viable MDDC populations were isolated using flow cytometric sorting. RNA was extracted from the purified MDDC populations and hybridised to Affymetrix microarrays.