Human Dendritic Cells

Description

Human dendritic cells (DCs) are specialized antigen-presenting cells derived from peripheral blood of healthy human donors. They are key modulators in immune surveillance, tolerance, and inflammation, and are involved in various diseases including cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. They possess characteristic dendritic morphology with branched cytoplasmic projections that facilitate antigen capture and interaction with T cells. In culture, human DCs are non-proliferative and survive for up to 7 days as immature dendritic cells (iDCs) when treated with IL-4 and GM-CSF, and can further differentiate into mature dendritic cells with TNF-α and IL-1β. They express a characteristic surface marker profile including CD11c⁺, CD80⁺, CD86⁺, HLA-DR⁺. Human DCs are widely used in cancer immunotherapy, infectious disease models, and autoimmune disorder research due to their potent antigen-presenting capacity and immunomodulatory role.