title: A complicated relationship: fulfilling the interactive needs of the T lymphocyte and the dendritic cell.
abstract: T cells recognize antigenic peptides displayed on the surface of MHC-bearing antigen-presenting cells (APCs), and with sufficient costimulation become activated. However, the ability of an APC (even bearing the correct peptide) to initiate and fulfill the requirements for T cell activation is not easily achieved. Naive T cells use multiple copies of a single receptor to survey the vast array of peptides presented on an APC, and require multiple receptor engagements to initiate T cell activation. Dendritic cells (DCs) are specialized cells with optimal capabilities for priming naive CD4+ T cells. Activation occurs, after initial antigen recognition by T cells, followed by a rapid dialogue between the T cells and the DCs. The resulting changes in both the cytoskeleton and the expression or regulation of cell-surface molecules on both cell types act to further strengthen engagement. In this report, we review the fundamentals of CD4+ T helper cell : DC interactions and discuss recent data concerning the molecular characteristics of this engagement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: McBride
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Fathman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*