Differential display of the integrins CD103 and CD11b are widely used to distinguish two major dendritic cell (DC) subsets in nonlymphoid tissues. CD103(+) DCs arise from FLT3-dependent DC precursors (preDCs), whereas CD11b(hi) DCs can arise either from preDCs or FLT3-independent monocytes. Functional characterization of these two lineages of CD11b(hi) DCs has been hindered by the lack of a wid...

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has a key role in dendritic cells (DCs) and affects T cell subtype specification and gut homing. However, the identity of the permissive cell types and the required steps of conversion of vitamin A to biologically active ATRA bringing about retinoic acid receptor-regulated signaling remains elusive. Here we present that only a subset of murine and human DCs expres...

Human embryonic stem cell-derived dendritic cells (hESC-DCs) may potentially provide a platform to generate "off-the-shelf" therapeutic cancer vaccines. To apply hESC-DCs for cancer immunotherapy in a semiallogeneic setting, it is crucial for these cells to "jump-start" adaptive antitumor immunity before their elimination by host alloreaction. In this study, we investigated whether CD1d upregul...

Dendritic cells (DCs) play an important role in the generation of anti-cancer immune responses, however there is evidence that DCs in cancer patients are dysfunctional. Lipid accumulation driven by tumor-derived factors has recently been shown to contribute to DC dysfunction in several human cancers, but has not yet been examined in mesothelioma. This study investigated if mesothelioma tumor ce...

Tumors harbor several populations of dendritic cells (DCs) with the ability to prime tumor-specific T cells. However, these T cells mostly fail to differentiate into armed effectors and are unable to control tumor growth. We have previously shown that treatment with immunostimulatory agents at the tumor site can activate antitumor immune responses and is associated with the appearance of a popu...

The Blomia tropicalis dust mite is prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Although it is a leading cause of asthma, little is known how it induces allergy. Using a novel murine asthma model induced by intranasal exposure to B. tropicalis, we observed that a single intranasal sensitization to B. tropicalis extract induces strong Th2 priming in the lung draining lymph node. R...

Dendritic cells have an important role in immune surveillance. After being exposed to microbial components, they migrate to secondary lymphoid organs and activate T lymphocytes. Here we show that during mouse malaria, splenic inflammatory monocytes differentiate into monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MO-DCs), which are CD11b+F4/80+CD11c+MHCIIhighDC-SIGNhighLy6c+ and express high levels of CCR5,...

In order to analyze dendritic cells (DCs) activation following infection with different mycobacterial strains, we studied the expression profiles of 165 genes of human monocyte-derived DCs infected with H37Rv, a virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) laboratory strain, CMT97, a clinical MTB isolate, Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), Aventis Pasteur, and BCG Japan, both empl...

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is increasingly identified as an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised, cancer and cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Knowledge on innate immune responses to S. maltophilia and its potential modulation is poor. The present work investigated the ability of 12 clinical S. maltophilia strains (five from CF patients, seven from non-CF patients) and one environmental s...