The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Dendritic Cells during Prion Disease

Figure 4

The influence of DC on prion disease pathogenesis. (1) Conventional DC are strategically placed throughout the mammalian host and are amongst the first cell populations to interact with prions. Following their uptake of prions DC have been proposed to exert a diverse range of contrasting effects on prion disease pathogenesis which may have a significant outcome on the spread of infection to the CNS. (2) Some studies have suggested that DC may help to protect the host against infection by attempting to sequester and destroy the prions [25–29]. (3) Others suggest that prions may exploit the migratory characteristics of DC to facilitate their efficient propagation from the site of exposure to the lymphoid tissues [22–24, 34, 39]. (4) DC may also play an important role in the subsequent transfer of prions to the CNS by bridging the gap between the immune and peripheral nervous systems [36, 61, 91–93]. (5) The adoptive transfer of PrP peptide-loaded DC into mice can overcome host tolerance towards PrP and prolong survival time after prion infection. This implies that DC could be manipulated to provide immunotherapeutic protection against prion diseases [54, 106, 107]. (6) The physiological function of cellular is uncertain but in DC may play a role in the immune synapse or in the regulation of cell migration [51, 52].