title: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the skin: to sense or not to sense nucleic acids.
abstract: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are specialized sensors of viral nucleic acids that initiate protective immunity through the production of type I interferons (IFNs). Normally, pDCs fail to sense host-derived self-nucleic acids but do so when self-nucleic acids form complexes with endogenous antimicrobial peptides produced in damaged skin. Whereas regulated expression of antimicrobial peptides may lead to pDC activation and protective immune responses to skin injury, overexpression of antimicrobial peptides in psoriasis drives excessive sensing of self-nucleic acids by pDCs resulting in IFN-driven autoimmunity. In skin tumors, pDCs are unable to sense self-nucleic acids; however, therapeutic activation of pDCs by synthetic nucleic acids or analogues can be exploited to generate antitumor immunity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Curdin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meller
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilliet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000378:metabolism*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D002450:Cell Communication; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002465:Cell Movement; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007239:Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D012867:Skin / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D007370:Interferon Type I; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors