These experiments were repeated using as APC bone marrow-derived DCs, differentiated with GM-CSF and IL-4. p97-116-specific responses (8493F832 cpm) were reduced (5199F1819 cpm) when rEPO was directly added to wells; this result was enhanced by DCs pre-incubation (3 h) with rEPO (4846F933 cpm, p=0.043). rEPO was also tested on TAChR-specific responses from lymph node cells (LNC) derived from TAChR-immunized Lewis rats.