Plasmacytoid dendritic cells and antigen presentation to CD4+t cells

The enigmatic antigen presenting role of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) has generated considerable interest in recent years. More recently,their interactions with CD4+ T cells and subsequent regulation of pathology in models of autoimmune disease have made them interesting targets for biological intervention. Our studies in a novel murine model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), demonstrate that pDCs act to limit the spontaneous induction of auto-reactive T cell responses and autoantibody production and can limit the severity of pathology.