Tai-Chi-Chuan on Differentiation and Maturation of Dendritic Cells

Tai-Chi-Chuan (TCC), a branch of traditional Chinese martial arts, has been widely practiced since the 17th century. Recent studies have shown that TCC can improve cardiorespiratory function, muscle strength, humoral and cellular immunity, metabolic response and mental control. Cultured monocytes from blood or bone marrow can be triggered to differentiate to myeloid dendritic cells (DC). DCs are specialized leukocytes for presenting antigens to quiescent, naive, and memory T cells, and they play pivotal roles in the induction of cell-mediated as well as humoral immune responses in vivo. Mature DCs have a capacity for initiating immunity or tolerance, which depends on their activation state. In this study we will investigate the effect of TCC on DC differentiation in the peripheral blood obtained from the healthy donors who take part with and without TCC exercise. The distribution of various DC sub-populations (myeloid DC and plasmacytoid cell) will be analyzed by detecting surface marker expression.