In this study, we compared dendritic cells (DCs) differentiated from positively selected monocytes (CD14-DCs) to DCs differentiated from adherence-selected monocytes (adh-DCs) with emphasis on lentiviral transduction. Using a second-generation, triple-helix containing, self-inactivating lentiviral vector at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 15, we observed enhanced transduction of CD14-DCs (72.8 +/- 5.3%, mean fluorescence intensity [MFI] = 166 +/- 76) compared to adh-DCs (32.3 +/- 13.1%, MFI = 119 +/- 76, n = 5). More importantly, the efficiency to transduce adh-DCs was significantly increased when monocytes were incubated with antiCD14 antibody coupled beads, anti-CD14 antibodies, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), reaching transduction efficiencies up to 86.6%, 53.3%, and 80.9%, respectively. We showed that this enhanced transduction was correlated to an activation of the monocytes, characterized by the up regulation of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and the de novo synthesis of IL-6 and IL-10. However, the enhanced transduction of immature CD14-DCs was not correlated with a progression in the cell cycle from G(0) to G(1). We further showed that CD14-DCs were phenotypically comparable to adh-DCs. Functional analysis revealed that there were no differences in allostimulatory capacity, production of IL-12 p70 on CD40 ligation or expression of IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, and TNF-alpha as evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Finally, we showed that lentivirally transduced CD14-DCs were equally capable as adh-DCs in stimulating MAGE-A3 antigen-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in vitro.