Splenic CD8⁺ DC and CD8⁻ DC from flt3L−/− mice stimulate allogeneic T-cell proliferation in an MLR.

Splenic CD8α⁺ DC and CD8α⁻ DC from flt3L+/+ and flt3L−/− mice were purified by flow cytometry (see “Materials and methods”), and cultured in titrating numbers with 1 × 10⁵ purified allogeneic naive CD4⁺ T cells isolated from the spleen and LN of DBA/2 mice. T-cell proliferation as measured by uptake of tritiated thymidine was determined on day 4; ▪ indicates flt3L+/+ CD8α⁻DC; □, flt3L−/− CD8α⁻ DC; •, flt3L+/+ CD8α⁺ DC; ○, flt3L−/− CD8α⁺ DC. Data are presented as the mean ± SD of triplicate counts. The experiment is representative of 3 separate experiments.