Patent ID: 8282964

Claim:
A method of ex vivo treatment of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC), comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining peripheral blood from a human subject; (b) isolating mononuclear cells from said peripheral blood; (c) isolating pDC from said isolated mononuclear cells using a negative cell selection; (d) exposing said isolated pDC to interferon-lambda (IFN-λ); and (e) administering said exposed pDC to said human subject, wherein said IFN-λ is present in an amount sufficient to inhibit pDC-supported cytokine release in a mixed lymphocyte reaction assay, and wherein said pDC-supported cytokine is selected from the group consisting of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-13 (IL-13), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-17 (IL-17).