Macrophages pulsed with Streptococcus pneumoniae elicit a T cell-dependent antibody response upon transfer into naive mice.

Macrophages are less effective than DC at priming naive CD4(+) T cells, suggesting that DC are unique in initiating T cell-dependent Ab responses. We compared the ability of DC and macrophages, pulsed in vitro with Streptococcus pneumoniae, to elicit protein- and polysaccharide-specific Ig isotype production upon adoptive transfer into naive mice. S. pneumoniae-activated DC secreted more proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, expressed higher levels of surface MHC class II and CD40, and presented S. pneumoniae or recombinant pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) to a PspA-specific T hybridoma more efficiently than macrophages. However, upon adoptive transfer into naive mice, S. pneumoniae-pulsed macrophages elicited an IgM or IgG anti-PspA and anti-polysaccharide response comparable in serum titers and IgG isotype distribution to that induced by DC. The IgG anti-PspA response, in contrast to the IgG anti-polysaccharide, to S. pneumoniae-pulsed macrophages was T cell-dependent. S. pneumoniae-pulsed macrophages that were paraformaldehyde-fixed before transfer or lacking expression of MHC class II or CD40 were highly defective in eliciting an anti-PspA response, although the anti-polysaccharide response was largely unaffected. To our knowledge, these data are the first to indicate that macrophages can play an active role in the induction of a T cell-dependent humoral immune response in a naive host.