Chitotriosidase Expression during Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells Differentiation and Maturation

The chitotriosidase (CHIT-1) is a glycosyl hydrolase (GH), which has been found highlyexpressed in activated macrophages and in different monocyte-derived cell lines such as Kupffer cellsand osteoclasts, as well is differently produced in diverse stages of macrophage polarization (M1 andM2). Recent finding suggests thatCHIT-1 plays a crucial role in innate and acquired immunity. Dendriticcells (DCs) are a complex group of cells that play a critical role in immune response. The aim of thisstudy was to investigate the presence of CHIT-1 during the differentiation and maturation of DCs.Magnetically-isolated peripheral blood monocytes were differentiated toward immature DCs (iDC) andmature DCs (mDCs). Our results showed, for the first time, that CHIT-1 is expressed during the processof differentiation and maturation of DCs in a time-dependent manner. We found that CHIT1 is evenlydistributed in cytoplasm of both the iDCs and mDCs. Additionally, a significantly increased expressionof CHIT1 mRNA and protein was observed in mature DCs. These results suggest that CHIT-1 play animportant role in the DCs immunoresponse.