Abstract
Dendritic cells (DCs) appear to orchestrate much of the immunobiology of
Chlamydia
infection, but most studies of
Chlamydia
-DC interaction have been limited by the availability and heterogeneity of primary bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs). We therefore evaluated the immunobiology of
Chlamydia muridarum
infection in an immortal DC line termed JAWS II derived from BMDCs of a C57BL/6 p53-knockout mouse. JAWS II cells were permissive to the developmental cycle of
Chlamydia
. Infection-induced cell death was 50 to 80% less in JAWS II cells than in BMDCs.
Chlamydia
infected JAWS II cells and yielded infectious progeny 10-fold greater than that with primary BMDCs. JAWS II cells showed an expression pattern of cell activation markers and cytokine secretion following
Chlamydia
infection similar to that of primary BMDCs by up-regulating the expression of CD86, CD40, and major histocompatibility complex class II and secreting significant amounts of interleukin-12 (IL-12) but not IL-10. JAWS II cells pulsed with
Chlamydia
stimulated immune CD4
+
T cells to secrete gamma interferon. Adoptive transfer of ex vivo
Chlamydia
-pulsed JAWS II cells conferred levels of immunity on C57BL/6 mice similar to those conferred by primary BMDCs. Taken together, the data show that JAWS II cells exhibit immunobiological characteristics and functions similar to those of primary BMDCs in terms of
Chlamydia
antigen presentation in vitro and antigen delivery in vivo. We conclude that the JAWS II cell line can substitute for primary BMDCs in
Chlamydia
immunobiological studies.