CUSTOMIZED DENDRITIC CELL IMMUNOTHERAPY IN CANCER

What are Dendritic cells and how do they kill cancer cells?

Dendritic cells considered the pacemakers of the immune system, were originally identified by Steinman and his colleagues in the early seventies. They are crucial to the presentation of peptides and proteins to B and T lymphocytes and are the key antigen presenting cells. They are critical for the induction of T cell responses resulting in cell mediated immunity.
  

It is the T cell receptors on the T lymphocytes which recognize fragments of antigens bound to molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on the surfaces of dendritic cells (DC). The peptide binding proteins, which are of types I and II, interact with and stimulate cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and T helper cells.

The antigens from a cancer cell on entry into the APC, are processed, spliced into peptides and then re-expressed on the cell surface linked to MHC proteins.

This results in generation of CTLs which recognized and destroy only cancer cells which express the antigen. The T helper cells which when activated in turn have profound immunoregulatory effects.

Therefore, DC play a key role in host defenses and a crucial role in anti-cancer immune responses.