Allergy and Immunology Commons^™

A Novel Function Of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells In Regulating Type 2 Immune Responses, Hannah Leigh Miller

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The generation of an allergic response is particularly perplexing, as the mucosal immune system is exposed to a myriad of antigens on a daily basis, the majority of which do not elicit inflammation. However, for the growing population of patients impacted by allergic diseases, there is a clear breakdown of normal tolerance to innocuous antigens, resulting in symptoms mediated by antigen specific T helper 2 (Th2) cells. In addition to their well-established role in early antiviral immunity via production of type I interferon, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) have been implicated in the generation of immune tolerance in a variety of …