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Review
. 2012 Aug;61(8):1279-88.
doi: 10.1007/s00262-012-1210-z.

Harnessing human plasmacytoid dendritic cells as professional APCs

Jurjen Tel  1 , Anne M van der Leun, Carl G Figdor, Ruurd Torensma, I Jolanda M de Vries
Affiliations
Review

Harnessing human plasmacytoid dendritic cells as professional APCs

Jurjen Tel et al. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2012 Aug.

Abstract

The plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) constitutes a unique DC subset that links the innate and adaptive arm of the immune system. Whereas the unique capability of pDCs to produce large amounts of type I IFNs in response to pathogen recognition is generally accepted,their antigen-presenting function is often neglected since most studies on antigen presentation are aimed at other DC subsets. Recently, pDCs were demonstrated capable to present antigen leading to protective tumor immunity. In this review, we discuss how pDCs could be exploited in the fight against cancer by analyzing their capacity to capture,process and (cross-) present antigen.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) express a wide variety of pattern recognition receptors involved in pDC function. These receptors can be harnessed to facilitate the targeted delivery of antigen to pDCs, leading to antigen (cross-) presentation and activation of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, receptors that are involved in the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns induce the activation of human pDCs leading to phenotypical maturation as well as the secretion of cytokines and chemokines. Those soluble factors on their turn can attract and induce the activation of other immune cells, thereby enhancing the immune response. The combination of “vaccine targets” for antigen delivery and stimulation largely affects the “immunological output” generated by pDCs
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