It is widely accepted that tissue dendritic cells (DC) function as immune sentinels by alerting T cells to foreign antigen after delivering and presenting it in the draining lymph nodes. Over the last two decades, studies in animal models, particularly rodents, have demonstrated that respiratory tract DC are crucial for the adaptive immune response to inhaled antigen. Indeed, the fate of inhaled antigen is inextricably linked to the function of respiratory tract DC. In this review, we will discuss the characteristics of respiratory tract DC from mice and recent data that may help to explain their role in the fate of inhaled antigen. Keywords: airway; antigen; dendritic cell; lung; mouseThe airways and lungs are exposed to a multitude of infectious and non-infectious agents on a daily basis, and the airway epithelium employs a variety of barriers to resist and remove the majority of these agents. 1-3 For those agents that are able to evade these barriers, there is a second line of defence comprising cells of the innate and adaptive immune systems positioned throughout the respiratory tree. These cells are positioned above, below and within the epithelium, and their activities are carefully regulated in order to protect the integrity of the airways and lungs. The innate response is largely governed by macrophages, 4,5 whereas dendritic cells (DC) orchestrate the adaptive immune response. 6,7 Over the last two decades, a growing awareness of the importance of DC to adaptive immunity has focused attention on respiratory tract DC (RTDC) as important regulators of the local immune response to airborne pathogens, antigens and allergens. In this review, we will consider the characteristics of RTDC, paying particular attention to studies performed in mice, and discuss their role in the fate of inhaled antigens.
THE PHENOTYPE OF MOUSE RTDCRTDC are present in the airways and lung parenchyma of mice, rats and humans. [8][9][10] In the airways, RTDC form an extensive network throughout the epithelium, 9 where their MHC class II-rich dendrites snake in between epithelial cells (e.g., see Figure 1). The number of RTDC decreases with the size of the airways 9 then increases again in the lung parenchyma, where they are literally squeezed in between the alveoli. 11,12 For the purposes of this review, RTDC located in the airways will be referred to as airway mucosal DC (AMDC) and RTDC located in the lung parenchyma will be referred to as lung tissue DC (LTDC).Mouse RTDC express high levels of MHC class II and CD11c that can be discerned from other immune cell types such as B cells and macrophages using flow cytometry (Figure 2). RTDC comprise approximately 1% of peripheral lung parenchyma and 2% of the main conducting airways of BALB/c mice. 13 A survey of a variety of surface molecules reveals RTDC are almost uniformly CD8a À/low and CD205 + , whereas CD40, CD80 and CD86 are generally expressed at low levels. [13][14][15][16] The phenotype of DC recovered from the main conducting airways (AMDC) compares well with that of DC from ...