Research Article: Mature dendritic cells suppress tenocyte and fibroblast function via type I interferon signaling
Abstract:
Dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in modulating immune responses and tissue homeostasis. While immature DCs have been shown to enhance cell proliferation, the function of mature DCs (mDCs) in connective tissue biology remains less well understood. Here, we report that mDCs exert a potent inhibitory effect on tenocytes (TCs) and fibroblasts (FBs), suppressing both cell proliferation and type I collagen production. Using in vitro co-culture and supernatant transfer experiments, we demonstrate that this suppression is primarily mediated by soluble factors. Further mechanistic analysis revealed that type I interferons (IFN-?, IFN-?, IFN-?), produced by mDCs upon LPS-induced maturation, are key mediators of these effects. Neutralization of the type I IFN signaling pathway restored both proliferation and collagen synthesis in TCs and FBs, confirming the central role of IFN signaling. Our findings suggest that mDCs may contribute to impaired tissue regeneration in inflammatory tendon pathologies.
Introduction:
Tendons are a specialized connective tissue that connect muscles to bone and enable the body to transmit forces generated by muscle contraction. For this reason, they are often referred to as the “mechanical bridges” of the body. The ability of tendons to withstand and transmit mechanical forces relies on their unique structural organization, which is maintained by tenocytes (TCs), tendon-resident cells, and fibroblast-like cells (FBs). In addition, tendons contain resident immune cells that play a central role in…
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