IMMUNOLOGICAL ROLES OF LYMPHOID-RELATED AND MYELOID-DERIVED HUMAN DENDRITIC CELLS

Abstract

Described in 1973 by Steinman and Cohn, dendritic cells (DCs) are derived from common CD34* hematopoietic progenitor cells isolated from the bone marrow. Difficult to characterize, human DCs have previously been distinguished by their (1) distinct dendritic morphology, (2) lack of cell lineage-specific surface markers, and (3) unique function. Dendritic cells are the principal antigen presenting cells (APCs) required for stimulating naive T cell proliferation in the initiation of a primary immune response.