Gene expression profiles of human immature dendritic cells co-cultivated with Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans and LPS for 6h

In a whole-transcriptome study, cellular responses of DCs confronted with the fungi A. fumigatus, C. albicans or the bacterial cell wall component LPS were investigated. Therefore DCs of four independent donors were analyzed after 6 hours co-culture with A. fumigatus, C. albicans and LPS by Affymetrix whole genome expression arrays. In general, transcriptomic analysis revealed a clustering of the A. fumigatus and C. albicans stimulated DCs. However, LPS and fungi-dependent gene expression showed more common similarities compared to the untreated control. Stimulation with LPS induced a differential regulation of 2793 genes after 6h, while confrontation with A. fumigatus and C. albicans resulted in 743 and 974 differentially regulated genes, respectively. Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) was identified as the only transcription factor that was down-regulated in DCs by both fungi but induced by stimulation with LPS. Human DCs were generated from 4 independent, healthy blood donors. moDCs were either left untreated or co-cultivated with Aspergillus fumigatus 46645 germ tubes or Candida albicans SC5314 (MOI1) and or LPS (1µg/ml) for 6h.