OBJECTIVETo investigate the ability of human dendritic cells (DCs) inducing specific T lymphocyte response and inhibit the expression of HBeAg and HBsAg in 2.2.15 cell culture supernatant.

METHODSDCs were prepared from peripheral blood mononuclear cells induced with granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor(GM-CSF) and interleukin 4. DCs was impulsed with pure HBsAg before DCs maturation and cocultured with self-blood T lymphocyte, while DCs without pure HBsAg stimulated group, T lymphocyte group and only T lymphocyte group were prepared as control group. The culture supernatant of 2.2.15 cell with stimulated T lymphocytes was collected on day 1, day 3, day 5 and day 7, respectively. The expressed levels of HBeAg and HBsAg were detected by ELISA method.

RESULTSDCs after antigen stimulation had a strong ability to present antigen and induce immune activation, DCs after loading with antigen in normal control and chronic hepatitis patients group had stronger stimulative ability for T lymphocytes proliferation than that of DCs without loading with antigen and only T lymphocyte group(P less than 0.01). The stimulating ability of DCs had a positive correlation to the dosage of loaded antigen; CTLs produced as a result of DCs stimulation had a specific inhibitive effect on the expression of HBeAg in 2.2.15 cell supernatant,but not on the expression of HbsAg.

CONCLUSIONHuman dendritic cells stimulated with HBsAg in vitro can efficiently present antigen and stimulate the production of specific CTLs to HBV, which can efficiently inhibit the expression of HBeAg in 2.2.15 cell supernatant- DC vaccine may become an antiviral therapy strategy for chronic hepatitis B virus infected patients in future.