Usage of Murine T-cell Hybridoma Cells as Responder Cells Reveals Interference of Helicobacter Pylori with Human Dendritic Cell-mediated Antigen Presentation.

Direct effects of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) on human CD4+ T-cells hamper disentangling a possible bacterial-mediated interference with major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II)-dependent antigen presentation to these cells. To overcome this limitation, we employed a previously described assay, which enables assessing human antigen-processing cell function by using murine T-cell hybridoma cells restricted by human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. HLA-DR1+ monocyte-derived dendritic cells were exposed to H. pylori and pulsed with the antigen 85B from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis). Interleukin-2 (IL-2) secretion by AG85Baa97-112-specific hybridoma cells was then evaluated as an integral reporter of cognate antigen presentation. This methodology enabled revealing of interference of H. pylori with the antigen-presenting capacity of human dendritic cells.

CpG oligonucleotides induce strong humoral but only weak CD4+ T cell responses to protein antigens in rhesus macaques in vivo.

Oligonucleotides containing CpG motifs (CpG ODN) are strong adjuvants for humoral immune responses but data on cellular immune responses in primates are scarce. Rhesus macaque blood contained similar numbers of plasmacytoid dendritic cells and B cells, the key sensors of CpG ODN, as human blood, and these cells were activated by CpG-A and CpG-B in vitro. In vivo, both ODNs induced equal plasma levels of interferon-inducible protein 10 and similarly enhanced antibody responses following i.m. injections of the ODNs, protein antigen, and aluminium hydroxide into rhesus macaques, whereas antigen-specific CD4(+) T cell responses were only slightly increased by CpG ODN.