Targeting dendritic cells to treat multiple sclerosis

Dendritic cells are specialized antigen-presenting cells that are necessary for inducing immunity and regulating immune tolerance. Understanding how these cells regulate adaptive immune responses has aided the development of a number of novel immunotherapies. In this article, Comabella and colleagues provide an overview of dendritic cell function and evaluate the potential of these therapies to treat multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is considered to be a predominantly T-cell-mediated disease, and emerging evidence indicates that dendritic cells have a critical role in the initiation and progression of this debilitating condition. Dendritic cells are specialized antigen-presenting cells that can prime naive T cells and modulate adaptive immune responses. Their powerful biological functions indicate that these cells can be exploited by immunotherapeutic approaches. Therapies that inhibit the immunogenic actions of dendritic cells through the blockade of proinflammatory cytokine production and T cell co-stimulatory pathways are currently being pursued. Furthermore, novel strategies that can regulate dendritic cell development and differentiation and harness the tolerogenic capacity of these cells are also being developed. Here, we evaluate the prospects of these future therapeutic strategies, which focus on dendritic cells and dendritic cell-related targets to treat MS.