Microarray analysis of CurDC versus BMDC

We found that dendritic cells (DCs) activated by dectin-1 agonists Curdlan potently promoted naïve CD4+ T cells to differentiate into Th9 cells. To clarify the underlying mechanisms, we examine the gene expression profiles of Curdlan-activated DCs (CurDCs) and regular DCs matured by TNFalpha and IL1beta. We identified 42 upregulated genes of cytokines, chemokines and costimulatory molecules, especially the TNF/Receptor members. Subsequent studies proved that the TNF family members TNFSF15 and OX40L play a major role in mediating CurDC-induced Th9 differentiation. Immature DCs were generated from Balb/c mice and matured with TNF-α/IL-1β (BMDCs) or Curdlan (CurDCs) for 48 hours. DCs were collected and stored in Trizol reagent (Invitrogen) at -80℃. All samples were sent to OneArray (http://www.OneArray.com.cn/, Beijing, China) for transcription profiling via genome-wide microarrays, and the subsequent data analysis was also performed by OneArray.