Extended Culture of Bone Marrow with Granulocyte Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor Generates Immunosuppressive Cells

Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BM-DCs) are generated from bone marrow (BM) cells cultured with granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for a week. In this study we investigated the effect of duration on the BM culture with GM-CSF. Within several months, the cells in the BM culture gradually expressed homogeneous levels of CD11c and major histocompatibility complex II on surface, and they became unable to stimulate allogeneic naïve T cells in mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). In addition, when the BM culture were sustained for 32 wk or longer, the BM cells acquired ability to suppress the proliferation of allogeneic T cells in MLR as well as the response of ovalbumin-specific OT-I transgenic T cells in antigen-dependent manner. We found that, except for programmed death-ligand 1, most cell surface molecules were expressed lower in the BM cells cultured with GM-CSF for the extended duration. These results indicate that BM cells in the extended culture with GM-CSF undergo 2 distinct steps of functional change; first, they lose the immunostimulatory capacity; and next, they gain the immunosuppressive ability.