Effect of maturation stimuli upon 11β-HSD1 reductase of monocyte-derived DCs. (A) Cortisone reductase (E → F) or dehydrogenase (F → E) activities were measured 48 hours following incubation of imDCs with media alone, TNF-α, mouse IgG1 plus anti-Fc cross-linker, or anti-CD40 plus anti-Fc cross-linker (mean ± SEM; ^*P < .05 reductase activity following CD40 ligation versus control, n = 3). (B) 11β-HSD1 (n = 8) and 11β-HSD2 mRNA (n = 4) expression (normalized to 18S rRNA) following 48-hour exposure of day 7 imDCs to mouse IgG1 plus anti-Fc cross-linker or anti-CD40 plus anti-Fc cross-linker. Mean ± SEM. (C) Immunoblots showing 11β-HSD1 expression when cells were treated as in panel B. β-actin loading control is also shown. Data are representative of 3 independent experiments.