Functions of chemotactic receptors and the immune synapse in dendritic cells

Mature dendritic cells (mDCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells whose activity is essential for the initiation and resolution of inflammatory processes and the generation of antigen-specific immune responses (see references in the objectives section). The mDCs express chemotactic receptors CCR7 (ligands CCL19 and CCL21), which guide these cells to the lymph nodes where, as part of the onset of adaptive response, these cells will form an immunological synapse (IS), regions of contact between an mDC and a T cell (TC). The IS includes molecular structures at the DC and the TC sides of this region, called IS (mDC) and IS (TC), respectively. In our group, we study the molecular mechanisms used by CCR7 and the SI (mDC) to modulate the functions of DCs.