Polymorphonuclear neutrophils modulate the responses of human immune cells to vaccines in an in vitro blood cell culture system

Authors

Gong, S., Patil, H. P., de Vries-Idema, J., Beukema, M., Huckriede, A.

Abstract

Vaccine-induced immune responses are the result of an intricate interplay between different cell populations of the innate and adaptive immune system, which is so far only partly understood. In particular, the role of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) has long been neglected. Here, we studied the effects of a whole inactivated virus influenza vaccine (WIV) in an in vitro system consisting of freshly isolated human PMNs alone or PMNs combined with autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Isolated PMNs showed minimal responses to the vaccine with respect to apoptosis, gene expression, cytokine production, and reactive oxygen species production. However, in WIV-stimulated PMN/PBMC co-cultures, PMNs particularly enhanced monocyte dynamics, CD14-CD11c+ cell activation, effector T cell differentiation, and B cell antibody production. On the other hand, PMNs decreased T follicular helper cell frequencies. Without vaccine stimulation, PMN presence resulted in enhanced levels of baseline inflammatory cytokines in PMN/PBMC co-cultures. However, with vaccine stimulation, PMNs dampened the vaccine-induced cytokine secretion of PBMCs. These findings reveal PMNs as regulators of vaccine responses whose effects depend on crosstalk with other immune cells, balancing pro-inflammatory and adaptive immune activation.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 20 Jun 2026.

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