Role of Wnt3a expressed by dendritic cells in the activation of canonical Wnt signaling and generation of memory T cells during primary immune responses

The presence of memory T cells (T(M)s) hinders transplant survival. Dendritic cells (DCs) induce the generation of T(M)s during primary immune responses. However, the specific mechanisms are unclear. In this study, we constructed a Wnt3a-expressing adenovirus and used small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting Wnt3a to investigate the influence of Wnt3a expression in DCs on the generation of T(M)s during primary immune responses. Our results demonstrated that the Wnt3a expression levels in DCs influenced the generation of T(M)s after 5 days in co-culture with naive T cells through activation of the Wnt canonical pathway. Interleukin-7 secretion levels in supernatants of DC/T(N)s co-cultures showed a similar pattern of Wnt3a expression levels in DCs. These findings provide a better understanding of T(M)s generation mechanisms that might be useful to improve transplant outcomes. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.