β2-adrenergic stimulation of dendritic cells favors IL-10 secretion by CD4⁺ T cells

Adrenergic receptor agonists and antagonists are extensively used as drugs in medicine for a broad spectrum of indications. We examined the consequences of β2-adrenergic stimulation of murine dendritic cells (DCs) on CD4⁺ T cell activation. We demonstrated in vitro that treatment of LPS-matured DCs with the β2-agonist salbutamol reduced their ability to trigger OT-II T cell proliferation specific for ovalbumin antigen. Salbutamol also induced a decrease in MHC class II molecule expression by DC through Gi protein activation. Co-culture of CD4⁺ T cells with salbutamol-conditioned mature DC impaired TNFα and IL-6 secretion while preserving IL-10 production by T cells. Using a vaccination protocol in mice, we showed that salbutamol favored IL-10-producing CD4⁺ T cells. None of these effects was observed when working with β2-adrenoreceptor deficient mice. Finally, we suggest that β2-adrenergic stimulation of DC could be an interesting way to shape CD4⁺ T cell responses for the purposes of immunotherapy.