Dendritic cells and viral immunity: friends or foes?

Dendritic cells (DC) residing in epithelial issues of various mucosae and t he skin are characterized by the unique ability to capture antigens and mig rate to draining lymph nodes, where they can activate naive a nd memory T c ells. Although DC play a pivotal role in inducing protective immunity to vi ral infection, they can also be exploited by viruses to evade the host immu ne response, induce immune suppression, or serve as latent viral reservoirs . Thus, virus interactions with DC may lead to an immune response that can be protective, but does not necessarily lead to complete virus elimination, resulting in immunopathology. (C) 2001 Academic Press.