ABSTRACT
Dendritic cells (DCs) constitute a heterogeneous cell population that emerges in the bone marrow (BM) from a macrophage and DC precursor, generating the following: (1) a common DC precursor and (2) a monocyte precursor (Liu and Nussenzweig 2010). In addition, DCs can also emerge from monocytes under inŽammatory conditions (Shortman and Naik 2007). Two major categories of DCs have been established as follows: (1) conventional (cDCs) and (2) inŽammatory DCs. DC differentiation is reached by the former during resting steady-state conditions, while the latter do so during inŽammatory conditions (Merad and Manz 2009). In addition, cDCs can be classiŸed into several subtypes that share the ability to pick up, process, and present antigens to T cells. DC subtypes can be recognized through the expression of different cell surface markers, pattern cytokine secretions, migration pathways, locations, and functions (Shortman and Naik 2007). Although plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) are
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 61 4.2 Expression of Connexins by Dendritic Cells and T Cells ..............................64
