Airway dendritic cells

Analogous with the mononuelear phagocyte system, there appears to be an extensive network of DC present within most tissues and organs of the body, and they 

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In normal animals, the number of DC is higher on the dorsal surface of the airways than on the ventral surface (881/mm, compared to 675/mm 26). 

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Hammad H, Lambrecht BN Recent progress in the biology of airway dendritic cells and implications for understanding the regulation of asthmatic inflammation. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2006 118 331-336. 

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Vermaelen K, Pauwels R Accelerated airway dendritic cell maturation, trafficking, and elimination in a mouse model of asthma. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2003 29 405-409. 

Hammad H, de Heer HJ, Souillie T, Hoogsteden HC, Trottein F, Lambrecht BN Prostaglandin Dj modifies airway dendritic cell migration and function in steady-state conditions by selective activation of the DP receptor. J Immunol 2003 171 3936-3940. 

Idzko M. Hammad H, van Nimwegen M, Kool M, Vos N, Hoogsteden HC, Lambrecht BN Inhaled iloprost suppresses the cardinal features of asthma via inhibition of airway dendritic cell function. J Clin Invest 2007 II7 464-472. 

Gong, J.L., McCarthy, K.M., Telford, J., Tamatani, T., Miyasaka, M. and Schneebetger, E.E. (1992). Intraepithelial airway dendritic cells a distinct subset of pulmonary dendritic cells obtained by microdissection. J. Exp. Med. 175, 797-807. 

Lommatzsch M, Bratke K, Bier A, et al. Airway dendritic cell phenotypes in inflammatory diseases of the human lung. Eur Respir J 2007 30(5) 878-886. 

Figure 1 A view of the rat tracheal epithelium taken from a tangential section stained with the monoclonal antibody 0x6, which is directed against rat MHC class II antigen. (A) This clearly demonstrates both the number and morphology of dendritic cells within the airway epithelium. (B) A higher magnification micrograph illustrating the nature of the dendritic processes. (C) When isolated airway dendritic cells are stained with 0x6, they are seen to be complexed with several lymphocytes, and the extended nature of their processes is revealed.

VI. Inflammatory Changes in Airway Dendritic Cell Populations... 

VII. Antigen Uptake and Processing by Airway Dendritic Cells... 

Within the epithelium resides a population of bone marrow-derived phagocytic cells (airway dendritic cells orLangerhans cells) that constitute the principal population of antigen-presenting cells in the airways (130,131). They extend long cytoplasmic filaments between the epithelial cells to form a continuous network... 

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