Dendritic cell lineage, plasticity and cross-regulation
Yong-Jun Liu, Holger Kanzler, Vassili Soumelis
& Michel Gilliet
DNAX Research Institute, 901 California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
Correspondence should be addressed to Yong-Jun Liu yliu@dnax.org
Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that have an extraordinary capacity to stimulate naïve T cells and initiate primary immune responses. Here we review progress in understanding the additional functions of DCs in regulating the types of T cell−mediated immune responses and innate immunity to microbes. In addition, evidence for the existence of myeloid and lymphoid DC lineages and their different functions are summarized. We propose that the diverse functions of DCs in immune regulation are dictated by the instructions they received during innate immune responses to different pathogens and from their evolutionary lineage heritage.
