Lung dendritic cells at the innate-adaptive immune interface
Abstract
This review updates the basic biology of lung DCs and their functions. Lung DCs have taken center stage as cellular therapeutic targets in new vaccine strategies for the treatment of diverse human disorders, including asthma, allergic lung inflammation, lung cancer, and infectious lung disease. The anatomical distribution of lung DCs, as well as the division of labor between their subsets, aids their ability to recognize and endocytose foreign substances and to process antigens. DCs can induce tolerance in or activate naïve T cells, making lung DCs well-suited to their role as lung sentinels. Lung DCs serve as a functional signaling/sensing unit to maintain lung homeostasis and orchestrate host responses to benign and harmful foreign substances.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2011
- Source ID
- 10.1189/jlb.0311134
Entities
People
- David W. H. Riches
- Matthew J. Fenton
- Richard T Sawyer
- Tracy Voss Condon
Organizations
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- National Jewish Health
- United States Department of Defense
- United States Department of Health and Human Services
- University of Colorado
- University of Colorado School of Medicine