Antigen targeting to dendritic cells: Still a place in future immunotherapy?. Issue 12 (2nd June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stoitzner, Patrizia; Romani, Nikolaus; Rademacher, Christoph; Probst, Hans Christian; Mahnke, Karsten
• Is Part Of: European journal of immunology. Volume 52:Issue 12(2022)
• Page Start: 1909
• Page End: 1924
• Publication Date: 2022-06-02
• Subjects: Antigen targeting -- C‐type lectins -- Dendritic cells -- Immunotherapy -- Vaccination; Immunology -- Periodicals; 616.079
• DOI: 10.1002/eji.202149515
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0014-2980

Abstract

Abstract: The hallmark of DCs is their potent and outstanding capacity to activate naive resting T cells. As such, DCs are the sentinels of the immune system and instrumental for the induction of immune responses. This is one of the reasons, why DCs became the focus of immunotherapeutical strategies to fight infections, cancer, and autoimmunity. Besides the exploration of adoptive DC‐therapy for which DCs are generated from monocytes or purified in large numbers from the blood, alternative approaches were developed such as antigen targeting of DCs. The idea behind this strategy is that DCs resident in patients' lymphoid organs or peripheral tissues can be directly loaded with antigens in situ. The proof of principle came from mouse models; subsequent translational studies confirmed the potential of this therapy. The first clinical trials demonstrated feasibility and the induction of T‐cell immunity in patients. This review will cover: (i) the historical aspects of antigen targeting, (ii) briefly summarize the biology of DCs and the immunological functions upon which this concept rests, (iii) give an overview on attempts to target DC receptors with antibodies or (glycosylated) ligands, and finally, (iv) discuss the translation of antigen targeting into clinical therapy. Abstract : Dendritic cell‐based immunotherapy is a promising vaccination strategy to treat infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and cancer. In this review, we present an overview on the current state of antigen targeting approaches via C‐type lectin receptors, with an outlook on future developments and potential for clinical translation.