Dendritic cells (DCs) process and present self and foreign antigens to induce tolerance or immunity. In vitro models suggest that induction of immunity is controlled by regulating the presentation of antigen, but little is known about how DCs control antigen presentation in vivo. To examine antigen processing and presentation in vivo, we specifically targeted antigens to two major subsets of DCs by using chimeric monoclonal antibodies. Unlike CD8+ DCs that express the cell surface protein CD205, CD8- DCs, which are positive for the 33D1 antigen, are specialized for presentation on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II. This difference in antigen processing is intrinsic to the DC subsets and is associated with increased expression of proteins involved in MHC processing.

SUMMARY Dendritic cells (DCs), critical antigen presenting cells for immune control, normally derive from bone marrow precursors distinct from monocytes. It is not yet established if the large reservoir of monocytes can develop into cells with critical features of DCs in vivo. We now show that fully differentiated Mo-DCs develop in mice and DC-SIGN/CD209a marks the cells. Mo-DCs are recruited from blood monocytes into lymph nodes by lipopolysaccharide and live or dead gram negative bacteria. Mobilization requires TLR4 and its CD14 coreceptor and Trif. When tested for antigen presenting function, Mo-DCs are as active as classical DCs, including cross presentation of proteins and live gram negative bacteria on MHC I in vivo. Fully differentiated Mo-DCs acquire DC morphology and localize to T cell areas via L-selectin and CCR7. Thus the blood monocyte reservoir becomes the dominant presenting cell in response to select microbes, yielding DC-SIGN+ cells with critical functions of DCs.

Improved protein-based vaccines should facilitate the goal of effective vaccines against HIV and other pathogens. With respect to T cells, the efficiency of immunization, or "immunogenicity," is improved by targeting vaccine proteins to maturing dendritic cells (DCs) within mAbs to DC receptors. Here, we compared the capacity of Langerin/CD207, DEC205/CD205, and Clec9A receptors, each expressed on the CD8 + DC subset in mice, to bring about immunization of microbial-specific T cells from the polyclonal repertoire, using HIV gag-p24 protein as an antigen. α-Langerin mAb targeted splenic CD8 + DCs selectively in vivo, whereas α-DEC205 and α-Clec9A mAbs targeted additional cell types. When the mAb heavy chains were engineered to express gag-p24, the α-Langerin, α-DEC205, and α-Clec9A fusion mAbs given along with a maturation stimulus induced comparable levels of gag-specific T helper 1 (Th1) and CD8 + T cells in BALB/c × C57BL/6 F1 mice. These immune T cells were more numerous than targeting the CD8 − DC subset with α-DCIR2-gag-p24. In an in vivo assay in which gag-primed T cells were used to report the early stages of T-cell responses, α-Langerin, α-DEC205, and α-Clec9A also mediated cross-presentation to primed CD8 + T cells if, in parallel to antigen uptake, the DCs were stimulated with α-CD40. α-Langerin, α-DEC205, and α-Clec9A targeting greatly enhanced T-cell immunization relative to nonbinding control mAb or nontargeted HIV gag-p24 protein. Therefore, when the appropriate subset of DCs is targeted with a vaccine protein, several different receptors expressed by that subset are able to initiate combined Th1 and CD8 + immunity.antigen presentation | C-type lectins | cross-priming A major goal in the development of effective vaccines against pathogens such as HIV and malaria is the induction of durable and protective T-cell immunity. Attenuated viral vectors are being emphasized widely as a vaccine platform to elicit T-cell immunity in humans (1). Attenuated vectors have potential limitations with respect to immunogenicity and repeated use, however (2). Protein vaccines could provide a stand-alone or complementary platform (e.g., to viral vectors), with relative ease of production and ability to be repeatedly injected. Proteins are poorly immunogenic for T cells, however, even when administered repeatedly in high doses.Recent progress in immunobiology provides the potential to overcome this obstacle. The immunogenicity of proteins can be greatly enhanced by improving the delivery of protein to dendritic cells (DCs). To do this, one approach is to introduce the protein into mAbs that efficiently and specifically target to DC receptors in situ, within lymphoid tissues, and then to coadminister the fusion antibody with an appropriate agonist for DC maturation [reviewed in (3, 4)]. Delivery of vaccine proteins within mAbs increases the efficiency of antigen presentation on MHC class I and II molecules ∼100-fold and allows protein vaccines to induce T helper 1 (Th1) type CD4 + T cells and CD8 + T cells (5-8).The DC ...