ANTIGEN-PRESENTING CELL-TYPES

Different antigen-presenting cells elicit responses in different T-cell populations for primary activation, secondary stimulation and cytotoxic effector functions. Maturing, bone marrow derived dendritic cells may acquire and process antigens, transport them to lymph nodes and activate naive T cells located there. By contrast, follicular dendritic cells, acquiring antigen-antibody complexes, maintain 'memory' via B-cell activation. Effector memory T cells recognize various tissue cells bearing antigen and we speculate that they may also target specialized antigen-presenting dendritic populations.