Interleukin (IL)-10 inhibits the functions of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), including dendritic cells (DCs), however, the precise mechanism of action of IL-10 has not been fully elucidated. In this work, the effects of IL-10 on classical swine fever virus (CSFV) C-strain-infected mouse bone marrow-derived immature DCs (BM-imDCs) were studied. Additional IL-10 suppressed the maturation of the infected BM-imDCs by down-regulating the expression levels of the surface molecules CD80, CD86 and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) classII, while the autocrine IL-10 had no significant effect on the maturation status of the cells. Both additional and autocrine IL-10 markedly inhibited the secretion production of IL-12P40 derived from the BM-imDCs infected with the C-strain, and reduced the capacity of DCs to promote allogeneic naive T cell proliferation. These results showed that IL-10 may play an important role in the DCs-dependent immune response induced by CSFV C-strain.

Key words: Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) C-strain, Dendritic cells (DCs), Interleukin (IL)-10