The potent immunomodulator FTY720 elicits immunosuppression via acting on sphingosine 1-phosphate receptors (S1PR), thereby leading to an entrapment of lymphocytes in the secondary lymphoid tissue. To elucidate the potential in vitro effects of this drug on human monocyte-derived DC, we used low nanomolar therapeutic concentrations of FTY720 and phosphorylated FTY720 (FTY720-P) and investigated their influence on DC surface marker expression, protein levels of S1PR and DC effector functions: antigen uptake, chemotaxis, cytokine production, allostimulatory and Thpriming capacity. We report that both FTY720 and FTY720-P reduce chemotaxis of immature and mature DC. Mature DC generated in the presence of FTY720 or FTY720-P showed an impaired immunostimmulatory capacity and reduced IL-12 but increased IL-10 production. T cells cultured in the presence of FTY720-or FTY720-P-treated DC showed an altered cytokine production profile indicating a shift from Th1 toward Th2 differentiation. In treated immature and mature DC, expression levels for two S1PR proteins, S1P 1 and S1P 4, were reduced. We conclude that in vitro treatment with FTY720 affects DC features that are essential for serving their role as antigen-presenting cells. This might represent a new aspect of the overall immunosuppressive action of FTY720 and makes DC potential targets of further sphingolipid-derived drugs.