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The acetylated N-terminal peptides of myelin basic protein, MBPAc1-9 [4K] (AcASQKRPSQR) and [4Y] (AcASQYRPSQR) were synthesized by GL Biochem Shanghai. In vitro stimulations and assays were performed in complete RPMI (Lonza, supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum (Biosera), 20mM HEPES, 2mM L-glutamine, 100U/ml penicillin, 100μg/ml streptomycin and 50mM 2-mercaptoethanol). A list of antibodies and details of their use in this study can be found in Table 1.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from buffy coats of healthy volunteers (Sanquin, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) by centrifugation on a Ficoll gradient. First, blood was gently mixed with PBS containing 1% citrate and carefully layered on top of Ficoll. After 30 min centrifugation at 700 × g, the interphase containing monocytes and lymphocytes was collected. Next, monocytes and lymphocytes were washed with PBS/Citrate at 400 × g for 10 min and the pellet was resuspended in complete RPMI. To isolate monocytes, PBMCs were carefully added on top of a Percoll layer (GE Healthcare, Chicago, U.S.) at a concentration of 10 × 10⁶ cells/mL and centrifuged at 400 × g for 40 min. Again the interphase was collected and tubes were filled with PBS/Citrate prior to a 10 min centrifugation at 400 × g. After washing three times with PBS/Citrate, pellets were resuspended in complete RPMI. MoDC were generated by culturing monocytes for 5–7 days at a concentration of 1.25^*10⁶/mL in complete RPMI (Lonza, Basel, Switzerland) containing 500 μ/mL IL-4 (ImmunoTools, Friesoythe, Germany) and 800 μ/mL Granulocyte Macrophage Colony stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) (ImmunoTools) using T75 flasks (Greiner, Kremsmünster, Austria).

The human Ca Ski (HVP16, 400 to 600 copies per cell) and SiHa (HVP16, 1 to 2 copies per cell) cell lines, the HeLa (HPV18, 20 to 40 copies per cell) cell line and the HPV negative C33-A cell line were obtained from ATCC (Manassas, VA, USA) and routinely tested for the presence of HPV in our laboratory. Ca Ski and SiHa cells were maintained at 37 °C (5 % CO₂) in complete RPMI or DMEM respectively (Lonza, Levallois-Perret, France) supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum (FBS; Lonza), 5x10⁴ U/L penicillin/streptomycin (Lonza) and 2 mM L-glutamine (Lonza). HeLa and C33-A cells were grown in complete EMEM (Lonza) supplemented with 10 % FBS, 5x10⁴ U/L penicillin/streptomycin and 2 mM L-glutamine.
HPV positive and HPV negative cells were diluted at indicated concentrations in the STM (Digene/Qiagen, Courtaboeuf, France) as reference medium and in the Novaprep® HQ+ Orange medium (Novacyt, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France), an alcohol-based fixative primarily dedicated to liquid-based cytology. Because pretreatment of viscous samples with dithiothreitol (DTT), a mucolytic agent, may be recommended to provide mucus-free single-cell suspensions, Novacyt also provided the Novaprep® HQ+ orange containing 0.03 % DTT. For convenience, the Novaprep® HQ+ medium without DTT will be referred to as HQ + A and the Novaprep® HQ+ medium with DTT will be referred to as HQ + B.