Dendritic cells (DCs) are a heterogeneous population of antigen-presenting cells derived from hematopoietic progenitors that bridge the transition between the innate and adaptive immune responses, while maintaining self-tolerance and Th1/Th2 homeostasis, by priming other cells in either an immunogenic or tolerogenic direction. Through their role in both innate and adaptive immunity, DCs play a ...

Induction of antigen-specific tolerance is critical for autoimmunity prevention and immune tolerance maintenance. In addition to their classical role as sentinels of the immune response, dendritic cells (DCs) play important roles in maintaining peripheral tolerance through the induction/activation of regulatory T (T(reg)) cells. The possibility of generating tolerogenic DCs opens new therapeuti...

Maternal immune adaptation is required for a successful pregnancy to avoid rejection of the fetal-placental unit. Dendritic cells within the decidual microenvironment lock in a tolerogenic profile. However, how these tolerogenic DCs are induced and the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, we show that human extravillous trophoblasts redirect the monocyte-to-DC transition an...

The dendritic cell (DC) population in spleen comprises a mixture of cells including endogenous DC progenitors, DC precursors migrating in from blood and bone marrow, and DC in different states of differentiation and activation. A role for different microenvironments in supporting the dynamic development of murine DC of different types or lineages is considered here. Recent evidence for producti...

The last decades of Nobel prize-honored research have unequivocally proven a key role of dendritic cells (DCs) at controlling both T cell immunity and tolerance. A tight balance between these opposing DC functions ensures immune homeostasis and host integrity. Its perturbation could explain pathological conditions such as the attack of self tissues, chronic infections, and tumor immune evasion....

Tolerogenic dendritic cells (DCs) play an important role in maintaining peripheral tolerance through the induction/activation of regulatory T cells (Treg). Endogenous factors contribute to the functional development of tolerogenic DCs. In this report, we present evidence that two known immunosuppressive neuropeptides, the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and the pituitary adenylate cyclase-a...

Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) is used in the prevention of graft-versus-host disease during allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It is generally accepted that ATG mediates its immunosuppressive effect primarily via depletion of T cells. Here, we analyzed the impact of ATG-Fresenius (now Grafalon®) on human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC). ATG induced a semi-mature phenotype ...

Tolerogenic dendritic cells (DCs) may be valuable in transplantation for silencing immune reaction. Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF)/IL-4 induces differentiation of cord blood (CB) monocytes into DCs (M-DCs) with tolerogenic phenotype/function. We assessed whether factors produced by tolerogenic DCs could modulate hematopoiesis. TGF-beta1 added to CB M-DC cultures induced bona fide ...

Tumor infiltrating dendritic cells (TIDCs) are thought to be potent antigen-presenting cells able to activate tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) or tolerogenic DCs that suppress immune reaction against tumors to escape. We have recently reported that majority of these TIDCs were DEC-205(+) DCs having a cross-presenting ability of captured tumor antigens to CD8(+) T cells via class I ...

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1,25(OH)(2)D(3)) is an immunomodulatory agent inducing dendritic cells (DCs) to become tolerogenic. To further understand its mechanisms of action, we have examined the effects of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) on tolerogenic properties of blood myeloid (M-DCs) and plasmacytoid (P-DCs) human DC subsets. Exposure of M-DCs to 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) up-regulated production of CCL22, a chemok...