Fig. 1

MSA-2 enhanced dendritic cell (DC) maturation. a–c STING pathway-associated cytokine detection. Immature bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) were cultured with MSA-2 for one day, and supernatants were collected for cytokine detection. IFN-β was measured by ELISA assays; TNF-α and IL-6 were determined by multiplex fluorescence-encoded beads; and cell viability was assessed by AO/PI staining. d–g FACS for DC maturation markers. Immature BMDCs were cultured with MSA-2 for one day and collected for flow cytometry. MSA-2 increased CD80, CD86, H-2Kd (MHC-I), I-A/I-E (MHC-II) dose-dependent. h Multiplex fluorescence-encoded beads for proinflammatory chemokine detection. Immature BMDCs were cultured with MSA-2 for one day, and supernatants were collected for cytokine detection. i OVA peptide-plus to evaluate antigen presentation capability. Immature BMDCs were treated LPS or MSA-2 for one day. Then, cells were pulsed with OVA peptide SIINFEKL for six hours and collected for flow cytometry. j One-way mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). Stimulating cells were BMDCs derived from BALB/c mice, while responding cells were spleen cells from C57BL/6 in the MLR assays. The mixed cells (the ratio of stimulator to responder = 1:2) were cultured for four days. On day 5, the supernatants and mixed cells were collected for CFSE dilution assay. k–m RNA-seq assay revealing the effect of MSA-2 on BMDC. The heatmap presenting the level of genes encoding cytokines and chemokines. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showing the pathways or biological processes significantly enriched in MSA-2-treated BMDC. *p < 0.05 means the significant difference compared to the vehicle