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Acquitting an APC : DC s found “not guilty” after trial by ablation
Author(s) -
Becher Burkhard,
Greter Melanie
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.272
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1521-4141
pISSN - 0014-2980
DOI - 10.1002/eji.201242928
Subject(s) - priming (agriculture) , immunology , context (archaeology) , biology , diphtheria toxin , immune system , population , cd11c , microbiology and biotechnology , t cell , medicine , genetics , toxin , phenotype , gene , paleontology , botany , germination , environmental health
There is a large body of evidence demonstrating that DC s are the most efficient and specialized APC s for T ‐cell priming, both in the context of host defense against pathogens and during the development of T ‐cell‐mediated autoimmune responses; however, this concept is currently being challenged by a series of conflicting observations using genetically engineered mice in which DC s are either constitutively or inducibly ablated. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology , Isaksson et al. [ Eur. J. Immunol . 2012, 42: 2555‐2563] report the use of mice in which CD 11c hi cells can be ablated by injecting diphtheria toxin in vivo. The authors then induced EAE and found that, surprisingly, the mice were fully susceptible to the disease; thus, challenging the dogma that DC s are a mandatory APC population for the priming of autoimmune T H cells or T ‐cell‐mediated immune responses. Here, we will analyze the authors’ findings in the context of observations made by others and critically discuss whether DC s can really be dismissed as crucial APC s.