Among antigen-presenting cells dendritic cells (DC) have the unique ability to generate primary T cell response. The reasons for the superior inductive property of DC still remain obscure. The explanations offered include higher expression of CD80, MHCII, and ICAMI on DC surface which allows effective cluster formation with T cells. It is also possible that additional cellular characteristics of DC, i.e., their ability to release critical mediators involved in the induction of effective immune response, are important. We examined the ability of DC to express IL-1, IL-6, and IL-12 using the highly sensitive reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Our data show that highly purified (97-99% pure) murine splenic DC were capable of expressing IL-1, IL-6 and IL-12 mRNA upon stimulation with lipopolysaccharide. We also compared the ability of DC and macrophages to induce T cell-derived cytokines IL-2 and IFN-gamma in an in vitro antigen-specific costimulation assay. In naive T cells stimulated with antigen presented via DC or macrophages, the levels of mRNA for IL-2 and IFN-gamma were 2- to 4-fold higher when cells were stimulated with DC. Overall, our data add additional support to the description of DC as superior antigen-presenting cells for the activation of naive T cells.