Fig. 1

Morphology of Monocyte-derived dendritic cells (Mo-DCs) in culture. At day 0 (Day 0), cluster of differentiation antigen14⁺ (CD14⁺) monocytes from health donors (HD) and patients with chronic HBV infection (CHB) were isolated and incubated with recombinant human granulocyte-macrophagecolony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) plus interleukin-4(IL-4)for 6 days (Day 6) and so called Mo-DCs. Then the cells were continued to be cultured with unstimulated condition (control group), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), supernatant of HepG2 cells and supernatant of HepG2.2.15 cells until day 10 (Day 10) respectively. (A) Cells were harvest and analyzed by flow cytometry for the granularity at three stages (day 0, day6, day10). The cells were initially gated on PI and showed for forward scatter (FSC) and sideward scatter (SSC). Numbers indicate the frequency of cells within indicated areas. The frequencies of indicated cells were compared between each group. Means and standard deviations of cell frequency from three independent analyses are shown. A sample number of 3 patients was used for cytometry assay. *, P < 0.05, **, P < 0.01, NS, not significant (P > 0.05). (B) After incubated with unstimulated condition (control group), LPS, supernatant of HepG2.2.15 cell, and supernatant of HepG2 cells, cultured cells from HD group and CHB group were stained with CD11c (green) and PI (red) and observed under confocal laser-scanning microscope. Representative images from three independent experiments are shown