Life Sciences Commons^™

Antigen Presentation : Influence Of Cell Type And Route Of Antigen Uptake, Alice O. Kamphorst

Student Theses and Dissertations

"Dendritic cells (DCs), which maintain tolerance and orchestrate T cell immune responses, comprise a heterogeneous group of cells. For example, in the steady state, murine spleen contains pre-DC-derived CD8+DEC-205+ and CD8-DCIR2+ conventional DCs. To examine antigen processing and presentation in vivo, antigens were specifically targeted to CD8+ and CD8- DCs using chimeric monoclonal antibodies. We find that CD8- DCs are better than CD8- DCs for presentation of exogenous antigens onto major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules due to cell intrinsic differences. DCs are responsible for initiating T cell responses. However, during inflammation, monocytes become activated and acquire some DC-like …