Differential inflammasome expression and IL-1β secretion in monocyte-derived dendritic cells differentiated with IL-4 or IFN-α

Background: NLRP3-inflammasome activation was evaluated in monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) obtained through IL-4 (IL4-DC) or IFN-alpha (IFN-DC) protocols and pulsed with chemically inactivated HIV-1. Inflammasome' genes expression and IL-1 beta secretion were compared in DC isolated from 15 healthy subjects (HC) and 10 HIV-1 infected individuals (HIV+). Findings: Whether HIV was able to increased NLRP3-inflammasome genes expression and IL-1 beta secretion in IL4-DC from HC, the induction of inflammasome appeared significantly reduced in IFN-DC from HC, suggesting a different responsive state of IFN-DC compared to IL4-DC. No inflammasome activation was observed in IL4-DC as well as in IFN-DC derived from HIV + subjects, confirming previous findings on unresponsive state of DC derived from HIV + possibly due to chronic inflammatory state of these individuals. Conclusions: Our results showed that IFN-alpha differently modulates inflammasome expression during monocytes-DC in vitro differentiation. These findings could be of interest considering the on-going research about DC manipulation and therapeutic strategies for HIV + involving DC-based immune-vaccines.