Dendritic cell differentiation from hematopoietic CD34(+) progenitor cells

Dendritic cells (DC) are the most powerful antigen presenting cells (APC) a nd play a pivotal role in initiating the immune response. In light of their unique properties, DC have been proposed as a tool to enhance immunity aga inst infectious agents and in anticancer vaccine strategies. In the last fe w years, the development of DC has been extensively investigated. The prese nt paper summarizes the most recent findings on the differentiation of myel oid DC from hematopoietic CD34(+) progenitors and methods for DC generation in vitro. A better understanding of DC function has important implications for their use in clinical settings.