Monocytes join the dendritic cell family

Abstract

Dendritic cells are professional antigen-presenting cells that mediate immunity and tolerance. Cheong et al. (2010) uncover a new route for dendritic cell production in vivo. They show that in response to infection by gram-negative bacteria, monocytes are recruited to the lymph node where they rapidly differentiate into dendritic cells that present antigens to T cells.