Dendritic cells are professional antigen presenting cells linking the innate and the adaptive immune system. Antibody mediated antigen delivery to functionally distinct DC subpopulations is a promising approach to induce or inhibit antigen specific immune responses in vivo and is useful for designing therapeutic vaccination strategies. This review focuses on the state of the art of this technique and describes recent findings of antigen targeting to the subpopulation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells and the possibilities to induce immunity or attenuate autoimmunity by delivering antigens specifically to this cell type.
«