Chitotriosidase Expression during Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells Differentiation and Maturation

The chitotriosidase (CHIT-1) is a glycosyl hydrolase (GH), which has been found highly expressed in activated macrophages and in different monocyte-derived cell lines such as Kupffer cells and osteoclasts, as well is differently produced in diverse stages of macrophage polarization (M1 and M2). Recent finding suggests that CHIT-1 plays a crucial role in innate and acquired immunity. Dendritic cells (DCs) are a complex group of cells that play a critical role in immune response. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of CHIT-1 during the differentiation and maturation of DCs. Magnetically-isolated peripheral blood monocytes were differentiated toward immature DCs (iDC) and mature DCs (mDCs). Our results showed, for the first time, that CHIT-1 is expressed during the process of differentiation and maturation of DCs in a time-dependent manner. We found that CHIT1 is evenly distributed in cytoplasm of both the iDCs and mDCs. Additionally, a significantly increased expression of CHIT1 mRNA and protein was observed in mature DCs. These results suggest that CHIT-1 play an important role in the DCs immunoresponse.