Mucosal immunity and inflammation I. Mucosal dendritic cells: their specialized role in initiating T cell responses

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most competent antigen-presenting cells known for the induction of primary T cell responses. Functional studies of tissu e-resident DCs have been impaired by the rarity of these cells in any given organ. Recent development of isolation procedures allowing extraction of h ighly purified fresh DC populations has made it possible to study mucosal D Cs in distinct mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues. Here, we discuss several recent studies by us and others that describe the tissue-specific phenotyp e and function of mucosal DCs and speculate on the mechanism by which the r esident DCs regulate tissue-specific T cell responses.