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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Analysis of Pulmonary Dendritic Cell Maturation and Migration during Allergic Airway Inflammation
Published on: July 23, 2012
Enrichment and characterization of dendritic cells from human bronchoalveolar lavages
C E Havenith1, J M van Haarst, A J Breedijk
1Department of Cell Biology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Insights
Dendritic cells (DC) are key accessory cells in human bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Enriched DC populations strongly stimulate T cell proliferation, highlighting their role in lung immune responses.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
- Pulmonary Medicine
Background:
- Dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial antigen-presenting cells in immune regulation.
- Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid contains various immune cells, including DCs.
- Identifying and characterizing accessory cells in BAL is important for understanding lung immunity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and quantify typical dendritic cells (DCs) in human bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells.
- To investigate the accessory cell function of DCs in BAL fluid.
- To determine the role of DCs in T cell immune responses within the lung.
Main Methods:
- Morphological and immunohistochemical analysis (acid phosphatase, EBM11/anti-CD68) of BAL cells to identify typical DCs.
- DC enrichment using transient adherence, FcR-panning, and density gradient centrifugation.
- Assessment of T cell proliferation via allogeneic mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR) using enriched DC fractions.
Main Results:
- Typical DCs constituted 0.3%–1.6% of human BAL cells.
- DC enrichment procedures yielded a fraction with 7–8% typical DCs.
- The DC-enriched fraction strongly induced T cell proliferation in MLR, exceeding that of unfractionated BAL cells.
Conclusions:
- Dendritic cells are the predominant accessory cells in human BAL fluid.
- Enriched DCs from BAL fluid significantly enhance T cell proliferation.
- DCs play a critical role in regulating T cell-mediated immune responses in the lung.
Abstract:
In the present study about 0.3% to 1.6% of human bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells were identified as typical dendritic cells (DC), having an irregular outline, lobulated nucleus, and clear distinguishable acid phosphatase activity or EBM11 (anti-CD68) reactivity in a spot near the nucleus. After DC enrichment, using transient adherence to plastic, FcR-panning, and a density metrizamide gradient, a population containing 7-8% typical DC was obtained. This DC-enriched low density fraction, containing the highest percentages of DC, very strongly induced T cell proliferation in an allogeneic mixed leucocyte reaction (MLR), which was significantly higher than that induced by other partly (un)fractionated BAL cells. These data indicate that DC seem to be the major accessory cells in the BAL fluid, and therefore may be important in the regulation of T cell immune responses in the lung.
