Stimulating an immune response
DCs deliver a foreign substance, or antigen, to other cells (T cells) in the immune response pathway thus triggering an immune response. There are a number of different types of DC subsets. The ‘Study of the functional role of the distinct skin dendritic cell subsets in vivo’ (ROLE OF SKIN DCS) project was undertaken to determine the genes coded for by certain subsets of skin DCs that may contribute to their functional diversity and to express the subsets of DCs in mice to enable in vivo evaluation of their role in immunity. In an effort to characterise Langerin-expressing DCs (DCs that code for and express the protein Langerin), the researchers discovered a new subset of skin dendritic cells, monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs). They went on to develop a novel strategy to distinguish between the two types of DCs to further investigate their functions. They isolated the DC subsets in vitro and demonstrated the specific capacity of a skin DC subset to generate regulatory T cells. They crossed two types of mice to obtain a novel mouse model with high expression of DCs producing specific proteins of interest in histocompatibility and studied the role of the distinct DC subsets in skin irritation, vaccination and colitis. In conclusion, the researchers identified distinct DC subsets with very different abilities to stimulate the immune response, with important implications for development of both novel immune system-targeted therapies as well as development of more effective vaccines.
