Ignition of the type 1 response to intracellular infection by dendritic cell-derived interleukin-12

Host resistance to many intracellular pathogens is dependent on the induction of host IFN-gamma. This response in turn is triggered by the critical initiation cytokine, IL-12. Activated macrophages provide a major source of IL-12 during infection yet are unlikely to be the initial cell to produce the cytokine because of their need for IFN-gamma priming and/or other co-stimulatory signals. We have utilized an in vivo approach to identify the primary IL-12 producing cells which respond to the intracellular protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Our results indicate that in spleen interdigitating dendritic cells (IDC) but not macrophages rapidly synthesize IL-12 after injection of parasite products or live tachyzoites. This response is both IFN-gamma and T lymphocyte independent. The same microbial stimulus results in the migration of IDC precursors into T cell areas and the upregulation of co-stimulatory cell-surface molecules. We postulate that these early dendritic cell activation events represent the "ignition switch" for the subsequent Type 1 cytokine response which leads to control of infection.