Morphological and functional characteristics of rat steady state peritoneal dendritic cells. |
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Authors: | E van Vugt J M Arkema M A Verdaasdonk R H Beelen E W Kamperdijk |
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Affiliation: | Department of Cell Biology, Medical Faculty, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. |
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Abstract: | Dendritic cells (DC) are present in lymphoid organs and also in many non-lymphoid tissues. In this study, DC in the steady state peritoneal cavity of rats were identified morphologically and functionally. Approximately 1% of the peritoneal cells are DC. On cytocentrifuge preparations these cells had the same characteristics as lymph node and spleen DC: they had an irregular outline, all were strongly MHC class II positive and had acid phosphatase activity in a spot in a juxtanuclear position. Also ultrastructurally, peritoneal DC were similar to DC isolated from lymph node and spleen. Enrichment of peritoneal DC, using overnight culture and a Nycodenz gradient, resulted in a highly purified DC fraction. Functionally, peritoneal DC appeared to be very potent antigen-presenting cells, far more potent than peritoneal macrophages, which had an inhibitory rather than an accessory function. |
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