Mouse neutrophils are professional antigen-presenting cells programmed to instruct Th1 and Th17 T-cell differentiation

Abstract

Neutrophils play a major role in the innate immune system and are normally considered to be short-lived effector cells that exert anti-microbial activity and sometimes immunopathology. Here, we show that these cells possess an additional function as professional antigen-presenting cells capable of priming a Th1- and Th17-acquired immune response. Using flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy and western blotting, we show that mouse neutrophils express MHC class II and co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86 after T-cell co-incubation. Neutrophils pulsed with ovalbumin (OVA) process and present peptide antigen to OVA-specific T cells in an MHC class II-dependent manner. Importantly, we demonstrate that neutrophils can prime antigen-specific Th1 and Th17 immune responses even without the addition of exogenous cytokines to cell cultures. © The Japanese Society for Immunology. 2011. All rights reserved.