Functions of Murine Dendritic Cells.

Dendritic cells (DCs) play critical roles in activating innate immune cells and initiating adaptive immune responses. The functions of DCs were originally obscured by their overlap with other mononuclear phagocytes, but new mouse models have allowed for the selective ablation of subsets of DCs and have helped to identify their non-redundant roles in the immune system. These tools have elucidated the functions of DCs in host defense against pathogens, autoimmunity, and cancer. This review will describe the mouse models generated to interrogate the role of DCs and will discuss how their use has progressively clarified our understanding of the unique functions of DC subsets.