Article abstract


Nature Immunology 9, 551 - 557 (2008)
Published online: 30 March 2008 | doi:10.1038/ni.1602

Direct proteasome-independent cross-presentation of viral antigen by plasmacytoid dendritic cells on major histocompatibility complex class I

Tiziana Di Pucchio1,2, Bithi Chatterjee3,4, Anna Smed-Sörensen3,4, Sandra Clayton1, Adam Palazzo1, Monica Montes1, Yaming Xue1, Ira Mellman3,4, Jacques Banchereau1 & John E Connolly1


Although plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) respond to virus replication in a nonspecific way by producing large amounts of type I interferon, a rapid, direct function for pDCs in activating antiviral lymphocytes is less apparent. Here we show that pDCs were able to rapidly initiate antigen-specific antiviral CD8+ T cell responses. After being exposed to virus, pDCs efficiently and rapidly internalized exogenous viral antigens and then presented those antigens on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I to CD8+ T cells. Processing of exogenous antigen occurred in endocytic organelles and did not require transit of antigen to the cytosol. Intracellular stores of MHC class I partially localized together with the transferrin receptor and internalized transferrin in endosomes, which suggested that such recycling endosomes are sites for loading peptide onto MHC class I or for peptide transit. Our data demonstrate that pDCs use 'ready-made' stores of MHC class I to rapidly present exogenous antigen to CD8+ T cells.

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  1. Baylor Institute for Immunology Research and Baylor Research Institute, Dallas, Texas 75204, USA.
  2. Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 299 Rome, Italy.
  3. Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Department of Cell Biology and Department of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
  4. Research Drug Discovery, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA.

Correspondence to: John E Connolly1 e-mail: johnconn@baylorhealth.edu

Correspondence to: Jacques Banchereau1 e-mail: jacquesb@baylorhealth.edu



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