Orchestration of the Th2 response by dendritic cells

关于免疫系统的特定成分在形成免疫反应的性质方面的相对贡献，关键问题仍然有待回答。树突状细胞（DC）是一种高度特化的免疫细胞，在这一过程中起着决定性的作用。这样的指导是至关重要的，因为建立不适当的免疫反应的后果可能是极其有害的。然而，与对细菌或病毒等病原体激活DC的机制的认识不断提高相反，人们对它们如何对更复杂的生物体做出反应知之甚少。血蠕虫是复杂的多细胞寄生虫，导致数百万人慢性疾病，它们诱导的独特类型的免疫反应与伴随感染的许多症状的发展密切相关。我们研究的目标是确定DC能够引导免疫应答至诱导类似反应类型的染色体和其他病原体的机制的细节。一旦我们有了这些信息，它将使我们能够设计新的药物和疫苗，以对抗任何免疫反应“不平衡”的情况。

Key questions remain to be answered as to the relative contribution that specific components of the immune system make in shaping the nature of the developing immune response. Dendritic cells (DC) represent a highly specialised type of immune cell that play a decisive role in orchestration of this process. Such direction is critical, since the consequences of mounting an inappropriate immune response can be extremely damaging. However, in contrast to increasing awareness of the mechanisms by which pathogens such as bacteria or viruses activate DC, little is known about how they respond to more complex organisms. Schistosome worms are complex multicellular parasites that cause chronic disease in millions of people and the distinctive type of immune response that they induce is intimately involved in the development of many of the symptoms that accompany infection. The goal of our studies is to identify the fine detail of the mechanisms by which DC are able to direct the immune response to schistosomes and other pathogens that induce a similar type of reaction. Once we have this information, it will enable us to design novel drugs and vaccines against any condition in which the immune response is ‘unbalanced‘.