Man donors and pDCs were subsequently enriched by MACS technique. (C) Cells were labeled with anti-human-CD303 antibody, and the frequency of CD303+ cells was determined by flow cytometry. Dot plots show percentage of CD303+ cells before (upper panel) and after MACS procedure (lower panel) (gated on live cells). Right: Histogram showing the fluorescence signal for CD303 before and after MACS procedure. (D) Following MACS procedure, enriched pDCs and the pDC-depleted PBMCs were stimulated with PBS (vehicle) or CpG ODN 2336 (2.5 or 5.0 mg/ml). After 24 hours, IFNA1 release into the supernatant was measured by ELISA; p,0.005 for enriched pDCs vs. pDC-depleted PBMCs. CpG = CpG ODN 2336; SSC = side scatter. *** p,0.005. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065024.gdata was visualized using GraphPad PRISM (La Jolla, CA, USA). The alpha level was set to 5 .Results ADRB2 stimulation of human PBMCs suppresses secretion of TNF upon TLR4 stimulationHuman PBMCs were stimulated with increasing concentrations of LPS (0.5?00 ng/ml). After 24 hours, TNF levels in the cell supernatant were measured by ELISA. The release of TNF was concentration-dependent (Fig. 1A), showing a significant increase in TNF secretion with 0.625 ng/ml of LPS. 1.25 ng/ml of LPS were used for subsequent experiments. When PBMCs were co-incubated with LPS (1.25 ng/ml) and various concentrations of epinephrine, TNF release was attenuated (Fig. 1B). This Title Loaded From File effect was dose-dependent. Epinephrine concentrations below 1029 M had no effect on LPS-induced TNF release. There was no TNF release detectable after 18204824 incubation with epinephrine or adrenoceptor antagonists alone. In further experiments, highly selective a- and b-adrenoceptor antagonists were combined with epinephrine to investigate which adrenoceptor mediated the observed effect. Neither the b1antagonist metoprolol nor the a-antagonists urapidil (a1-selective) nor RX821002 (a2-selective) reduced the epinephrine-mediated suppression of TNF release, while the non-specific b-blocking agent propranolol and the b2-specific agent ICI118,551 did, identifying the b2-adrenoceptor (ADRB2) as mediator of epinephrine-dependent suppression of TNF release (Fig. 1C). Remarkably, suppression of TLR4-induced TNF release could be observed after short incubation times (i.e., 4 hours). Dose response 23148522 experiments showed that blocking capacity was most effective for concentrations 10-fold lower than that of epinephrine (data not shown).other than the ADRB2 had no such effect. Neither epinephrine nor adrenoceptor antagonists alone exerted any detectable effect on IFNA1 secretion. The combination of CpG ligation with the selective b2-adrenoceptor agonist salbutamol likewise resulted in a significant attenuation of IFNA1 release (Fig. 2C, right panel). Longterm treatment (24 hours) of human PBMCs with either TLR ligands, with adrenoceptor agonist/antagonist or with the combination of both did not have any Title Loaded From File negative influence on the viability of cells (even when used in high concentrations) as determined by CellTiterBlueTM assay (Fig. 2D).ADRB2 is not expressed by human pDCsWe wondered whether the suppressive effect of ADRB2 stimulation was mediated by a direct influence on the pDC as the IFNA1 producing cell itself. To gain insight, we performed flow cytometric analysis of the ADRB2 expression within human PBMC subsets (Fig. 3A). As shown by surface staining, we could exclude the presence of the ADRB2 on pDCs, while other cell fractions within PBMCs (i.e., monocytes).Man donors and pDCs were subsequently enriched by MACS technique. (C) Cells were labeled with anti-human-CD303 antibody, and the frequency of CD303+ cells was determined by flow cytometry. Dot plots show percentage of CD303+ cells before (upper panel) and after MACS procedure (lower panel) (gated on live cells). Right: Histogram showing the fluorescence signal for CD303 before and after MACS procedure. (D) Following MACS procedure, enriched pDCs and the pDC-depleted PBMCs were stimulated with PBS (vehicle) or CpG ODN 2336 (2.5 or 5.0 mg/ml). After 24 hours, IFNA1 release into the supernatant was measured by ELISA; p,0.005 for enriched pDCs vs. pDC-depleted PBMCs. CpG = CpG ODN 2336; SSC = side scatter. *** p,0.005. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065024.gdata was visualized using GraphPad PRISM (La Jolla, CA, USA). The alpha level was set to 5 .Results ADRB2 stimulation of human PBMCs suppresses secretion of TNF upon TLR4 stimulationHuman PBMCs were stimulated with increasing concentrations of LPS (0.5?00 ng/ml). After 24 hours, TNF levels in the cell supernatant were measured by ELISA. The release of TNF was concentration-dependent (Fig. 1A), showing a significant increase in TNF secretion with 0.625 ng/ml of LPS. 1.25 ng/ml of LPS were used for subsequent experiments. When PBMCs were co-incubated with LPS (1.25 ng/ml) and various concentrations of epinephrine, TNF release was attenuated (Fig. 1B). This effect was dose-dependent. Epinephrine concentrations below 1029 M had no effect on LPS-induced TNF release. There was no TNF release detectable after 18204824 incubation with epinephrine or adrenoceptor antagonists alone. In further experiments, highly selective a- and b-adrenoceptor antagonists were combined with epinephrine to investigate which adrenoceptor mediated the observed effect. Neither the b1antagonist metoprolol nor the a-antagonists urapidil (a1-selective) nor RX821002 (a2-selective) reduced the epinephrine-mediated suppression of TNF release, while the non-specific b-blocking agent propranolol and the b2-specific agent ICI118,551 did, identifying the b2-adrenoceptor (ADRB2) as mediator of epinephrine-dependent suppression of TNF release (Fig. 1C). Remarkably, suppression of TLR4-induced TNF release could be observed after short incubation times (i.e., 4 hours). Dose response 23148522 experiments showed that blocking capacity was most effective for concentrations 10-fold lower than that of epinephrine (data not shown).other than the ADRB2 had no such effect. Neither epinephrine nor adrenoceptor antagonists alone exerted any detectable effect on IFNA1 secretion. The combination of CpG ligation with the selective b2-adrenoceptor agonist salbutamol likewise resulted in a significant attenuation of IFNA1 release (Fig. 2C, right panel). Longterm treatment (24 hours) of human PBMCs with either TLR ligands, with adrenoceptor agonist/antagonist or with the combination of both did not have any negative influence on the viability of cells (even when used in high concentrations) as determined by CellTiterBlueTM assay (Fig. 2D).ADRB2 is not expressed by human pDCsWe wondered whether the suppressive effect of ADRB2 stimulation was mediated by a direct influence on the pDC as the IFNA1 producing cell itself. To gain insight, we performed flow cytometric analysis of the ADRB2 expression within human PBMC subsets (Fig. 3A). As shown by surface staining, we could exclude the presence of the ADRB2 on pDCs, while other cell fractions within PBMCs (i.e., monocytes).