Figure 5From: Role of CD40 ligation in dendritic cell semimaturationRole of ERK on CD40L induced cytokine secretion in DC of different maturation status. Wildtype BMDC were primed with B. vulgatus mpk or LPS 1 ng/ml to obtain semimature DC and E. coli mpk or LPS 1 μg/ml, respectively, to obtain mature DC. Immature DC were maintained by incubation in the absence of further stimuli (PBS). Subsequently, the DC were washed and treated with the ERK inhibitor PD98059 (50 μmol/l, black bars) or as a control with DMSO (grey bars) for 30 minutes, washed and re-stimulated with 1 μg/ml anti-CD40 mAb (+) or the isotype control (−). After 24 hours, the concentrations of IL-12p40 (A), IL-12p70 (B) and IL-6 (C) were measured in the cell culture supernatants by ELISA. The bars represent the mean values of three independent experiments, each performed as duplicate, ± SD. * p < 0.05 for PD98059 compared to DMSO.Back to article page