Adipose Tissue Dendritic Cells Enhances Inflammation by Prompting the Generation of Th17 Cells

BACKGROUND: Obesity has become a global challenge for public health. It has been reported that obesity is associated with chronic inflammation. However, the mechanism for the chronic inflammation contributes to obesity remains elusive. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In our study, we found a novel CD11c(+) dendritic cell subset existed in murine adipose tissues which was immature phenotype. Moreover, as compared to the lean controls, the number of CD11c(+) DCs and CD4(+)IL-17(+)T cells were higher in adipose tissue of high fat diet (HFD) mice. Adipose tissues derived dendritic cells (ATDCs) displayed lower levels of CD40, CD80, CD86, MHCI and MHCII expression than splenic DCs (SPDCs). However, ATDCs showed higher levels of IL-6, TGF-β and IL-23 secretion. Moreover, our in vitro experiments demonstrated that ATDCs were capable of promoting Th17 cell generation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results indicate the existence of CD11c(+) DCs in adipose tissues, which displays an immature phenotype but possessing pro-inflammatory function.