Dendritic Cells in Human Lung Disease: Recent Advances

Our plain-English summary of Dendritic Cells in Human Lung Disease: Recent Advances, by J.W. Upham, Y. Xi (Chest, 2017).

The study

• Authors: J.W. Upham, Y. Xi
• Journal: Chest
• Published: 2017;151(3):668-673
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 27 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells. Because of their particular ability to initiate and regulate cell mediated and humoral immune responses, there is considerable interest in the role that DCs play in the pathogenesis of various lung diseases, especially those in which there is an excessive immune response to specific antigens (as in asthma) or a deficient immune response (as in lung cancer). A number of DC subpopulations have been defined in the lungs, including myeloid or conventional DCs that initiate T-cell immunity and antibody production and plasmacytoid DCs that have an important role in antiviral immunity and immune tolerance. Although an extensive body of literature has documented the role that DCs play in experimental models of lung disease, this review will highlight recent advances in our understanding of DC function in human disease, including asthma, COPD, antimicrobial immunity, and lung cancer. The future is likely to see new approaches whereby antigens and small molecules are targeted to receptors on particular DC subpopulations in order to modify pulmonary immune responses.

Copyright © 2016 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In plain English

This article is a narrative review, not an original study. The two authors summarized recent research on dendritic cells in human asthma, COPD, lung infections and lung cancer. Dendritic cells are immune cells that sample inhaled substances and pass signals to other immune cells. The article does not discuss asbestos. Mesothelioma gets a single sentence of discussion: the authors wrote that most malignant tumors, including lung cancers and mesothelioma, can produce factors that suppress an efficient antitumor immune response. The review also cited another group's study of 458 patients with primary lung carcinoma. In that study, a high density of mature dendritic cells within tertiary lymphoid structures in tumors was significantly and independently associated with improved long-term survival. The authors noted that much human research on these cells has involved small, cross-sectional observational studies. They also noted that early studies of dendritic cell-based vaccines combined with activated killer T cells showed promising results in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer, but need confirmation in large multicenter studies. They concluded that future approaches may target antigens or small molecules to receptors on particular dendritic cell subpopulations.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative review of published research; no original data
• Who was studied: No study population of its own. The review covered published human studies of dendritic cells in asthma, COPD, lung infections and lung cancer, with one sentence on mesothelioma.
• Exposure: No exposure was studied. The review discusses allergens, cigarette smoke, diesel exhaust particles and microbes as influences on dendritic cells. Asbestos is not mentioned.
• Main results:
  • The authors stated, citing a recent summary by others, that most malignant tumors, including lung cancers and mesothelioma, can produce factors that suppress an efficient antitumor immune response.
  • The review cited another group's study of 458 patients with primary lung carcinoma. In that study, a high density of mature dendritic cells (those highly expressing lysosomal-associated membrane protein-3) within tertiary lymphoid structures in tumors was significantly and independently associated with improved long-term survival.
  • The authors described interest in using dendritic cell-based vaccines combined with activated killer T cells to enhance the antitumor response in lung cancer.
  • The review described published findings that increased numbers of airway mucosal dendritic cells are present in asthma.
  • The review described published findings that cigarette smoking can increase lung conventional dendritic cells even without overt lung disease.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that future approaches are likely to use antibodies to target antigens or small molecules to receptors on particular dendritic cell subpopulations, in order to modify immune responses.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that much research on human dendritic cells has involved small, cross-sectional observational studies.
  • The authors stated that early studies showing promising results in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer need confirmation in large multicenter studies.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Lung Cancer, COPD.

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