Chemokine receptors are differentially expressed on immature and mature dendritic cells (DC). Herein, we demonstrate for the first time that murine antimicrobial peptides β-defensins 2 and 3 bind murine CCR6, similarly to inflammatory chemokine macrophage-inflammatory protein 3α, and they chemoattract bone marrow-derived immature, but not mature DC. Using various chemokines or defensins fused with nonimmunogenic tumor Ags, we studied their capacity to delivery Ags to subsets of immune cells to elicit antitumor immunity. We demonstrate that DNA immunizations with fusion constructs with β-defensin 2 or inflammatory chemokines that target immature DC, but not homeostatic chemokines secondary lymphoid tissue chemokine, CCL21, or stromal cell-derived factor 1, CXCL12, which chemoattract mature DC, elicit humoral, protective, and therapeutic immunity against two different syngeneic lymphomas.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.