Phenotypic and functional differences between human dendritic cells derived in vitro from hematopoietic progenitors and from monocytes/macrophages.

We compared dendritic cells (DC) derived from CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells with tumor necrosis factor alpha and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to DC derived from monocytes/macrophages with interleukin-4 (IL-4) and GM-CSF. Monocyte/macrophage-derived DC demonstrated higher levels of CD1a, lower levels of CD14, greater stimulatory activity in mixed lymphocyte reactions, and greater capacity to present soluble protein antigen than CD34+ cell-derived DC. Lymphocytes stimulated with antigen-pulsed, monocyte/macrophage-derived DC produced more IL-10 than those stimulated with antigen-pulsed, CD34+-derived DC. Whereas CD1a+ DC could be derived from CD34+ cells in serum-free- and human-sera-containing cultures, the derivation of CD1a+ DC from monocytes/macrophages required the presence of fetal calf serum. The spectrum of cytokine mRNA expression, the presentation of peptide antigen, and the sensitivity to human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection of CD34(+)- and monocyte/macrophage-derived DC were comparable. Although cells derived by both methods are potent antigen-presenting cells, there are differences between DC derived in vitro from hematopoietic progenitors and from monocytes/macrophages that may influence their in vivo activity.