Figure 3

VA Qu Spez-treated DCs stimulate the proliferation of allogeneic CD4+ T cells. The 4-day-old DCs (0.5 × 10⁶) were treated with medium alone (Control) or with 15 ng/ml TNF-α or with 5, 10 and 15 μg/ml of VA Qu Spez for 48 hours. After 48 hr treatments, DCs were co-cultured with the allogeneic CD4+ T cells at different ratios in a round bottom 96-welled plate. After 4 days of co-culture, the cells were pulsed overnight with 0.5 μCi (0.037 MBq) of (³H)thymidine to quantify T-cell proliferation. Radioactive incorporation was measured by standard liquid scintillation counting, and the results were expressed as counts per minute (mean ± SEM of triplicate values). Statistical significance (*, p < 0.05) as analysed by Mann-Whitney test is indicated.