Generation of dendritic cells: role of cytokines and potential clinical applications.

Over the last decade there has been great interest in generating populations of antigen presenting cells (APC), which can be exploited to improve immune responses to a variety of diseases including malignancies. Dendritic cells (DC) are an APC population that are easily generated ex vivo using a variety of cytokines. Cytokines can also be used to further manipulate these cells in maturation and function. The following discussion will provide an overview of dendritic cell isolation and generation with a focus on the role cytokines play in this process.