Differentially expressed Dendritic cell surface molecules

树突状细胞是一种非常罕见的白色血细胞，在免疫应答的启动中起着关键作用。对疫苗接种感兴趣的科学家对它们特别感兴趣，因为疫苗要有效地发挥作用，疫苗必须通过树突状细胞呈递给免疫系统的其余部分。直到最近才变得明显的是，有几种类型的树突状细胞，这些不同类型的树突状细胞在向免疫系统呈递疫苗的能力上各不相同。我们已经鉴定了一些只在一种树突细胞表面表达的蛋白质。我们将探索这些蛋白质作为仅将疫苗递送到一种类型的树突状细胞的手段的可能用途。该项目还将确定在某些类型的树突状细胞中表达的新基因，而不是其他基因。这些新基因的表达在树突细胞中确实存在差异，它们是操纵免疫系统和确保更有效接种疫苗的潜在靶点。

Dendritic cells are a very rare type of white blood cell which play a critical role in the initiation of the immune response. They are of particular interest to scientists interested in vaccination, as for a vaccine to work effectively, the vaccine must be presented to the rest of the immune system by the dendritic cell. It has only recently become apparent that there are several types of dendritic cell, and these different types of dendritic cell vary in their ability to present a vaccine to the immune system. We have already identified some proteins that are expressed on the surface of only one type of dendritic cell. We will explore the possible use of these proteins as a means of delivering a vaccine to only one type of dendritic cell. This project will also identify new genes that are expressed in some types of dendritic cells but not others. These new genes whose expression does differ amongst the dendritic cells are potential targets for manipulating the immune system and ensuring more efficient vaccination.