Dendritic Cells

Abstract

Maintaining immune tolerance against the body’s own tissue and trillions of commensal microorganisms and food antigens, while launching a robust adaptive immune response against foreign pathogens and tumors, is a mammoth challenge for the immune system. DENDRITIC CELLS (DCs) are powerful and highly versatile antigen-sensing and antigen-presenting cells and are able to preserve the balance between tolerance and immunity. They were first described by Paul Langerhans in 1868, but their function remained unknown until 1973 when it was shown that DENDRITIC CELLS [1] have a unique immunological key function: they are capable of presenting antigens to lymphocytes in order to induce and regulate adaptive immune response. Hence, DCs are called professional antigen-presenting cells and link innate to adaptive immunity. Acknowledging importance of the discovery that DCs are key players in the immune system and his part in investigating DC biology, Ralph Steinman was awarded the Noble Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 2011 [2].