Garg Sanjay, Oran Alp, Wajchman Janine, Sasaki Shin, Maris Charles H, Kapp Judith A, Jacob Joshy
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vaccine Research Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, 954 Gatewood Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
Nat Immunol. 2003 Sep;4(9):907-12. doi: 10.1038/ni962. Epub 2003 Aug 10.
Dendritic cells (DCs) are key regulators of immune responses that activate naive antigen-specific T lymphocytes. In draining lymph nodes, antigen-bearing DCs are reported to be rare and short-lived. How such small numbers of short-lived DCs can activate rare antigen-specific T cells is unclear. Here we show that after immunization of mouse skins by gene gun, the number of antigen-bearing DCs that migrate to draining lymph node is 100-fold higher than previously estimated and that they persist for approximately 2 weeks. The substantial frequency and longevity of DCs in situ ensures ample antigen presentation and stimulation for the rare antigen-specific T cells in draining lymph nodes.
树突状细胞（DCs）是激活初始抗原特异性T淋巴细胞的免疫反应关键调节因子。据报道，在引流淋巴结中，携带抗原的DCs数量稀少且寿命短暂。如此少量的短寿命DCs如何激活罕见的抗原特异性T细胞尚不清楚。在此，我们表明，通过基因枪免疫小鼠皮肤后，迁移至引流淋巴结的携带抗原的DCs数量比先前估计的高100倍，且它们能持续约2周。原位DCs的大量频率和长寿确保了对引流淋巴结中罕见的抗原特异性T细胞有充足的抗原呈递和刺激。
