Vitamin D3-mediated alterations to myeloid dendritic cell trafficking in vivo expand the scope of their antigen presenting properties

Vaccine. 2007 Jan 26;25(7):1236-49. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2006.10.008. Epub 2006 Oct 24.

Abstract

The mucosal immune system provides the host with a first line of adaptive immune defense against invasion by many species of pathogenic microorganisms and their secreted products. Calcitriol, the active form of Vitamin D3 (VD3), promotes the induction of mucosal immunity in mice when added to subcutaneously administered vaccine formulations. Dendritic cells (DCs) activated at vaccination sites where VD3 is present gain the capacity to bypass sequestration in the draining lymph node and traffic to the Peyer's Patches (PP) of immunized animals. By employing protocols that allow the effective tracking of endogenous or adoptively transferred myeloid DCs in vivo, we found that VD3 influences on the trafficking of fully differentiated immature DCs were temporary, and occur without negative effects to antigen processing or peptide presentation to CD4+ T cells. In contrast, DCs differentiated from hematopoietic precursors in the presence of VD3 (conditioned DCs), were markedly compromised in their antigen presenting properties, while manifesting clear alterations to their trafficking properties in vivo. Similar to the recent finding of VD3-mediated enhancement of innate immune protection, our findings suggest that VD3 could also play an important role in controlling the types of immune effector responses elicited subsequent to either infection or vaccination.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic*
  • Animals
  • Antigen Presentation / drug effects*
  • Antigen Presentation / immunology*
  • Bone Marrow Cells / immunology
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • Chemotaxis, Leukocyte / immunology
  • Cholecalciferol / pharmacology*
  • Dendritic Cells / drug effects
  • Dendritic Cells / immunology*
  • Female
  • Immunity, Mucosal / immunology
  • Immunotherapy, Adoptive
  • Lymphoid Tissue / immunology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred C3H
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Myeloid Cells / drug effects
  • Myeloid Cells / immunology*
  • Receptors, CCR7
  • Receptors, Chemokine / biosynthesis
  • Receptors, Chemokine / genetics
  • Skin / cytology
  • Skin / immunology

Substances

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic
  • Ccr7 protein, mouse
  • Receptors, CCR7
  • Receptors, Chemokine
  • Cholecalciferol