title: The receptor DEC-205 expressed by dendritic cells and thymic epithelial cells is involved in antigen processing.
abstract: Dendritic cells and thymic epithelial cells perform important immunoregulatory functions by presenting antigens in the form of peptides bound to cell-surface major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules to T cells. Whereas B cells are known to present specific antigens efficiently through their surface immunoglobins, a comparable mechanism for the capture and efficient presentation of diverse antigens by dendritic cells and thymic epithelial cells has not previously been described. We show here that their antigen-presentation function is associated with the high-level expression of DEC-205, an integral membrane protein homologous to the macrophage mannose receptor and related receptors which are able to bind carbohydrates and mediate endocytosis. DEC-205 is rapidly taken up by means of coated pits and vesicles, and is delivered to a multivesicular endosomal compartment that resembles the MHC class II-containing vesicles implicated in antigen presentation. Rabbit antibodies that bind DEC-205 are presented to reactive T-cell hybridomas 100-fold more efficiently than rabbit antibodies that do not bind DEC-205. Thus DEC-205 is a novel endocytic receptor that can be used by dendritic cells and thymic epithelial cells to direct captured antigens from the extracellular space to a specialized antigen-processing compartment.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Swiggard
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heufler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mirza
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Steinman
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Nussenzweig
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D017951:Antigen Presentation / Q000502:physiology*; D015703:Antigens, CD; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D004705:Endocytosis; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D000090323:Mannose Receptor; D037241:Mannose-Binding Lectins; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D015703:Antigens, CD; C093569:DEC-205 receptor; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D000090323:Mannose Receptor; D037241:Mannose-Binding Lectins; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface