Читать книгу Immunology - Richard Coico - Страница 52

Dendritic cells (DCs) are critically important members of the innate immune system due to their highly efficient antigen‐presenting cells (APCs) (see Chapter 3). Like other innate immune cells, they recognize and phagocytize pathogens and other antigens but their ability to present antigens to T cells far exceeds that of other APCs. They are found as migrating DCs in the blood, nonmigratory follicular dendritic cells (fDCs) in primary and secondary follicles of the B cell areas of lymph nodes and spleen, interdigitating cells of the thymus, and Langerhans cells in the skin. Another type of dendritic cell is the plasmacystoid DC (pDC). Unlike other DC subpopulations that are derived from myeloid precursor cells, pDCs are derived from lymphoid precursors. Like all DCs, pDCs display antigen‐presenting function, but they are distinguished by their ability to produce large amounts of IFN‐α/β in response to viral and bacterial stimuli.