High dose lipopolysaccharide triggers polarization of mouse thymic Th17 cells in vitro in the presence of mature dendritic cells

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plays an important role in the activation of innate immune cells, leading to secretion of proinflammatory factors and bridging the adaptive immune system. Exposing total mouse thymic cells culture to LPS induced a unique expression profile of cytokines (IL-17A, IL-17F, and IL-22) and the essential ROR-γt master transcription factor, which suggested a preferential differentiation of thymocytes towards the Th17 cell phenotype. Th17-polarizing molecules (IL-23, IL-23R, IL-6, and TGF-β) and IL-17A+CD4+ thymocytes were also specifically produced by the in vitro LPS-stimulation of thymic cells. Furthermore, both the expression of Th17 differentiation-related molecules and the frequency of Th17 cells were significantly up-regulated with increasing doses of LPS, as evidenced by quantitative RT-PCR and flow cytometric analysis, respectively. The expressions and frequency reached maximum levels when LPS exposure had been maintained at an extremely high concentration (100 μg/mL) for 48 h. On the other hand, depletion of thymic dendritic cells (DCs) blocked the LPS-induced polarization of thymus-derived Th17 cell lineage. Addition of bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) to the purified immature CD4+ CD62Llow thymocytes culture recovered the switch towards Th17 cells, which synergistically prompted the cytotoxic activity of CD8+ T cells. Taken together, our data indicates that high doses of LPS can promote the differentiation of mouse thymus-derived Th17 cells by a mechanism involving components associated with mature DCs.

► In vitro LPS-exposure specifically induced the mouse thymic Th17 cells.
► The frequency of Th17 cells is correlated with dosages of LPS and duration time.
► Thymic DCs are necessary to direct immature thymocytes toward the Th17 cell lineage.
► This process involved up-regulation of co-stimulatory molecules on thymic DCs.