IMR Press / FBL / Volume 16 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.2741/3781

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Antigen presentation in EAE: role of microglia, macrophages and dendritic cells
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1 Unit of Histology, Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Institute of Neuroscience. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193, Spain
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2011, 16(3), 1157–1171; https://doi.org/10.2741/3781
Published: 1 January 2011
Abstract

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a well-established model of multiple sclerosis, is characterised by microglial activation and lymphocytic infiltration. Lymphocytic activation through the antigen presentation process involves three main signals, the first provided by the engagement of major histocompatibility complex molecules (MHC) with the receptor of T-cells (TCR), the second by the binding of co-stimulatory molecules and the third by the secretion or expression of T-cell polarising molecules in specific populations of antigen presenting cells (APC). Microglial cells are considered to be the main APC population in the central nervous system (CNS). Specifically in EAE an increase in MHCs, co-stimulatory molecules and different T-cell polarising factors have been reported in microglia. However, a growing number of evidences suggest that dendritic cells (DCs), the main APC in the peripheral immune system, may also participate in the regulation of T-cell responses within the CNS. In this review we summarize the principal knowledge regarding microglial/macrophage function in EAE and their role in T-cell modulation, as well as the participation of DCs in the immune response associated to this disease.

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