Respiratory dendritic cells: maturation and migration following pulmonary influenza virus infection

Following uptake of either innocuous or pathogenic antigens, dendritic cells (DC) are thought to mature and then migrate to the regional lymph nodes, where they present this antigen to naive T and B cells resulting in peripheral tolerance or the induction of the adaptive immune response, respectively. Respiratory dendritic cells (rDC) reside throughout the respiratory tract where they are thought to participate in immune surveillance by sampling the pulmonary environment, yet surprisingly little is known about their maturation and migration. Recently, using a novel in situ CFSE labeling technique, we have explored rDC maturation and migration to the regional lymph nodes both in the steady state and following intranasal (i.n.) influenza virus infection. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.