Modulation of murine bone marrow derived dendritic cells by IL-4

The archetypal Th2 cytokine interleukin 4 (IL-4) has previously been shown to alternatively activate dendritic cells (DCs) both in vitro and in vivo.To more fully understand the impact of IL-4 dependent alternative activation of DCs, we used mRNA microarrays to define their transcriptional profile. RNAs were extracted from bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Two groups of samples were taken, with three biological replicates in each: control untreated, and treated with recombinant-IL4 (at 20 ng/ml).