TLR4 Ligands Induce IFN-α Production by Mouse Conventional Dendritic Cells and Human Monocytes after IFN-β Priming

Abstract

Exacerbation of disease in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with bacterial infection. In conventional dendritic cells (cDCs), the TLR4 ligand bacterial LPS induces IFN-β gene expression but does not induce IFN-α. We hypothesized that when cDCs are primed by cytokines, as may frequently be the case in SLE, LPS would then induce the production of IFN-α, a cytokine believed to be important in lupus pathogenesis. In this study we show that mouse cDCs and human monocytes produce abundant IFN-α following TLR4 engagement whether the cells have been pretreated either with IFN-β or with a supernatant from DCs activated by RNA-containing immune complexes from lupus patients. This TLR4-induced IFN-α induction is mediated by both an initial TRIF-dependent pathway and a subsequent MyD88-dependent pathway, in contrast to TLR3-induced IFN-α production, which is entirely TRIF-dependent. There is also a distinct requirement for IFN regulatory factors (IRFs), with LPS-induced IFN-α induction being entirely IRF7- and partially IRF5-dependent, in contrast to LPS -induced IFN-β gene induction which is known to be IRF3-dependent but largely IRF7-independent. This data demonstrates a novel pathway for IFN-α production by cDCs and provides one possible explanation for how bacterial infection might precipitate disease flares in SLE.