Allostimulatory activity of bone marrow-derived plasmacytoid dendritic cells is independent of indoleamine dioxygenase but regulated by inducible costimulator ligand expression.

We investigated the role of two key immunoregulatory molecules, indoleamine dioxygenase (IDO) and inducible costimulator ligand (ICOSL), in determining the function of bone marrow (BM)-derived plasmacytoid (p)DC, which offer the potential for therapy of allograft rejection. pDC generated from BM of wild-type (WT) or IDO knockout (KO) C57BL/6 mice were used to stimulate T-cell proliferation and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production in response to alloantigen (alloAg) via the direct or indirect pathways. In some experiments, pDC were first activated by exposure to CpG +/- CTLA4Ig for IDO induction via B7 ligation. Although IDO KO pDC induced enhanced T-cell responses compared with WT pDC, the use of the IDO inhibitor 1-methyltryptophan (1-MT) demonstrated that the inferior stimulatory capacity of WT pDC was not caused by the production of functional IDO, even under IDO-inducing conditions. The DNAX-activating protein of 12 kDa (DAP12), which inhibits functional IDO expression, was expressed in BM-pDC. DAP12 silencing increased the T-cell stimulatory capacity of WT pDC, but only in the presence of 1-MT. Compared with WT pDC, activated IDO KO DC expressed much lower levels of ICOSL. Moreover, when ICOSL was blocked on WT pDC, T-cell proliferation resembled that induced by IDO KO pDC, and interleukin (IL)-10 secretion in MLR was markedly decreased. These findings implicate ICOSL-induced IL-10, but not IDO in the regulation of BM-derived pDC function.