To understand the role of Dendritic Cells in the regulation of adaptive immunity and to apply this knowledge to the design of vaccines The rational design of vaccines to pathogens and tumours demands a more complete understanding of the complex molecular interactions between different cell types, soluble mediators and co-stimulatory molecules involved in the induction and maintenance of immunity.
T cells provide for desirable outcomes such as protection from pathogens and tumours.
However, in a significant minority of the population, T cells are also involved in auto-immune processes and responses to innocuous antigens such as allergens. We proposed a model where a relatively small number of pattern recognition molecules are required . We are now extending these studies to include the role of a novel DC marker MyD-1. It is clear that not only are the re tissue specific DC, but DC can acquire different T cell activating properties depending on the nature of the maturation process. We are using micro-array technology to explore the gene expression profiles of these DC subsets.