Acquisition of Antigens by Airway Dendritic Cells. Do We Know Enough
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: The respiratory system is endowed with a number of structural and functional barriers that \nprotect it against harmful and innocuous material from taking advantage of its vast surface \narea to gain access into the organism. These barriers include; 1) the surfactant system 2) a \nhighly efficient mucociliary escalator system 3) a population of highly phagocytic \nmacrophages and 4) an epithelium endowed with tight junctions. However, despite these \nbarriers, pulmonary immune responses are easily generated by introduction of antigens into \nthe airways. These responses are thought to be mediated via dendritic cells, which are \nlocated in the basal aspect of the epithelium,and the most potent antigen presenting cells in \nthe lung. Although there is substantial information on the nature of interaction between \ndendritic cell and particles from in vitro experiments, there is little information on how the \nparticles breach the barrier to reach the immunocompetent cells. An understanding of how \nthese particles pass the epithelial barrier to reach the immunocompetent cells is important in \nthe development of mucosal vaccines. Insights into how this may happen are discussed.
Author: Stephen G. Kiama
Language: English
Subfield: Immunology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W1554202710