Dendritic cells

[zyncod]

So.... dendritic cells. They're pretty cool - next generation of anti-cancer strategies, mediators for prion (mad cow) diseases, ultimate arbiters of both the innate/humoral immune response. Raise hands if you've ever even heard of them given our entirely useless media.

 

[AMansAmoeba]

I've heard the name mentioned before, but not from the media or the fact that they are being used in such studies. Do you have any links to sites that talk about using them as mediators for prions?

Screw cancer, prions are the real thrill.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

Raise hands if you've ever even heard of them given our entirely useless media.

<img src="http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/wave.gif">

Anyone with college-level biology knowledge will have heard of dendritic cells. As for relying on mass media science reporting for such education......<img src="http://www.fadzter.com/smilies/rolleyes.gif">

Dendritic cells are one of three different “antigen presenting” cells. Immature T cells must be activated to proliferate and differentiate into effector cells. This activation occurs in peripheral lymphoid organs on the surface of antigen-presenting cells that display foreign antigen complexed with MHC proteins on their surface.

There are three main types of antigen-presenting cells in peripheral lymphoid organs that can activate T cells: dendritic cells, macrophages, and B cells. The most potent of these are dendritic cells, whose only known function is to present foreign antigens to T cells. Immature dendritic cells are located in tissues throughout the body, including the skin, gut, and respiratory tract. When they encounter invading microbes at these sites, they endocytose the pathogens or their products and carry them via the lymph to local lymph nodes or gut-associated lymphoid organs. The encounter with a pathogen induces the dendritic cell to mature from an antigen-capturing cell to an antigen-presenting cell that can activate T cells.

<I><B>Source</B>: Molecular Biology of the Cell (4th Ed.) by Alberts et al.</I><P>