Evaluation of accessory cell heterogeneity. III. Role of dendritic cells in the in vitro activation of the antibody response to soluble antigens.

Dendritic cells and macrophages obtained from spleen and peritoneal exudate were tested as accessory cells for the activation of lymphokine production by T cells, for supporting T-B cooperation and for the induction of antigen-specific T helper cells. Dendritic cells as well as macrophages were able to activate T cells for interleukin-2 secretion and functioned as accessory cells in T-B cooperation, but only macrophages induced T helper cells, which cooperate with B cells by a linked recognition interaction, to soluble antigens. Dendritic cell- and antigen-activated T cells also did not help B cells in the presence of Con A supernatants which contained various T cell- and B cell-stimulatory factors. The failure of dendritic cells to differentiate memory into functional T helper cells, but their efficient accessory cell function in T-B cooperation, where functional T helper cells are already present, can be best explained by a differential accessory cell requirement for T helper cell activation dependent on the differentiation stage of the T helper cell.