Dendritic cells up-regulate immunoproteasomes and the proteasome regulator PA28 during maturation

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DC) are highly specialized professional antigen presenting cells which are pivotal for the initiation and control of the cytotoxic T cell response. Upon stimulation by cytokines, bacteria, or CD40L DC undergo a maturation process from an antigen-receptive state to a state of optimal stimulation of T cells. We investigated the composition of proteasomes of DC derived from human peripheral blood monocytes before and after stimulation by CD40L, LPS, or proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha + IL-6 + IL-1beta). Immunoprecipitation of proteasomes and analysis on two-dimensional gels revealed that during maturation the inducible proteasome subunits LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1 are up-regulated and that the neosynthesis of proteasomes is switched exclusively to the production of immunoproteasomes containing these subunits. The proteasome regulator PA28 is markedly up-regulated in mature DC and in addition a so - far unidentified 21-kDa protein co-precipitates with the proteasome in LPS - stimulated DC. These changes in proteasome composition may be functionally linked to special properties of DC like MHC class I up-regulation or cross-priming. Our findings imply that the spectrum of class I-bound peptides may change after DC maturation which could be relevant for the design of DC - based vaccines.