Objective To investigate the mechanism hy which Dectin-1 mediates the killing of Candida albicans(C.albicans) by human neutrophils in a manner dependent on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS).Methods After stimulation with FITC-C.albicans at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 10 for 30 or 60 min,PE-anti-human Dectin-1 monoclonal antibody (2.5 μg/106 cells) was used to detect the expression of Dectin-1 in human neutrophils by flow cytometry.For Dectin-1 inhibition test and ROS assay,human neutrophils (2×106/ml) were respectively pre-incubated with different concentrations of blocking antibody (0.5,1,2.5 and 5 μg/ml) for 60 min at 4℃,and then with 25 μmol/L 2′,7′-Dichlorofluorescein diacetate for another 20 min at room temperature.Afterwards,under stimulation with live C.albicans at a MOI of 10,the rate of intracellular ROS production over time in blocking and control groups was measured continuously at 10 min intervals for up to 120 min.In addition,localization of Dectin-1 and ROS in human neutrophils was observed by confocal/two-photon laser scanning microscopy after stimulation with live C.albicans.For the detection of candicidal activity,after pre-treatment with different concentrations of Dectin-1 blocking antibody as mentioned above,neutrophils were stimulated with live C.albicans (MOI=1) for 60 min,serial dilutions of cell lysate were plated onto yeast agar,and CFU were enumerated after incubation at 37℃ for 48 h.The candicidal activity was represented as [1-(CFUblocking group/CFUbuffer)] × 100％.Results Under stimulation with FITC-C.albicans at a MOI of 10 for 30 and 60 min,positive percentage of intracellular Dectin-1-expressing neutrophils increased significantly when compared with initial level (0 min,8.32％ ; 30 min,16.82％ ; 60 min,23.88％) (versus 0 min,P＜0.01).However,positive percentage of cell-surface Dectin-1-expressing neutrophils remained almost unchanged after stimulation for 30 and 60 min (versus 0 min,P＞0.05).Upon blockage of Dectin-1,the stimulated ROS generation (R2=0.306,P＜0.01) and candicidal activity (R2=0.251,P＜0.01) of neutrophils were partly and irreversibly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner when compared with control group.In addition,the intracellular Dectin-1 is recruited and co-distributed with ROS on the surface of phagocytized C.albicans as observed by confocal microscopy.Conclusion Taken together,these results demonstrated that an internalized expression pattern of human Dectin-1 might contribute to the ROS-dependent killing of serum-opsonzied C.albicans which was phagocytized by human neutrophils.