The phenotype and function of lung dendritic cells.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are central to the integration of innate and adaptive immunity. In contrast to B and T lymphocytes, DCs have retained many of the pattern recognition receptors and are thus uniquely able to sense stimuli such as tissue damage, necrosis, and bacterial and viral infection. Also, immature DCs respond to danger signals in the environment, which leads to their maturation, upon which DCs differentiate and acquire the ability to direct the development of the primary immune response. The ability of lung DCs to elicit specific CD4 and CD8 T lymphocyte responses have made them attractive targets for vaccine development strategies in the treatment and prevention of diseases such as allograft rejection responses, allergy, and asthma, as well as autoimmune disease and cancer.