Novel mechanism that helps activated dendritic cells to initiate effective immunity
Friday, December 18, 2015 - 15:40
in Biology & Nature
Phagocytosis represents a critical innate barrier against infection and serves the clearance of extracellular microbes, infected and dying cells. Different immune cells use phagocytosis for microbial killing, but in dendritic cells (DCs) it mainly serves the processing and presentation of specific molecules (antigens) that are able to alert the immune system and to initiate immune responses. Researchers describe now a mechanism of how the fusion between phagosomes and lysosomes influences the presentation of antigens on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I molecules to cytotoxic T cells, a process called cross-presentation.