TLR agonists on human dendritic cells

Toll like receptors (TLRs) sense microbial products and initiate adaptive immune responses by activating dendritic cells (DCs). Since pathogens may contain several agonists we asked whether different TLRs may synergize in DC activation. We report that in human and mouse DC TLR3 or TLR4 potently synergize with TLR7, TLR8 or TLR9 in the induction of selected cytokine genes. Upon synergistic stimulation, IL-12, IL-23 and Delta-4 are induced at levels 50-100 fold higher than those induced by optimal concentrations of single agonists, leading to enhanced and sustained TH1 polarizing capacity. Using microarray analysis we show that only 1.5% of the transcripts induced by single TLR agonists are synergistically regulated by combinations of TLR4 and TLR8 agonists.. These results identify a combinatorial code by which DCs discriminate pathogens and provide (suggest) a rationale to design adjuvants for TH1 responses. Series_overall_design: 3 untreated, 3 treated with LPS at 2h, 3 treated with LPS at 8h, 3 treated with R848 at 2h, 3 treated with R848 at 8h, 3 treated with LPS + R848 at 2h, 3 treated with LPS + R848 at 8h Keywords: other