Figure 3

CD40 stimulation protects blood dendritic cells (DCs) against tumor-derived supernatant (TDSN)-induced apoptosis. TDSN-induced apoptosis in blood DCs was determined by Annexin-V binding following incubation (24 h) in the presence or absence of: (a)a combination of inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and prostaglanding (PG)E₂ as a cytokine cocktail (CC)); (b)synthetic double-stranded RNA (poly I:C); or (c)CD40 ligand (CD40L) prior to culture (24 h) with 50% (v/v) peripheral blood mononuclear cell-conditioned supernatant (PBMC-SN) or TDSN (MA11, MB435, MCF7 and SKBR3). Representative dot plots (SSC on y-axis versus apoptosis on x-axis) are shown with numbers indicating the percentage of apoptotic cells. Five independent experiments were performed for which p-values are indicated.