The Role of Dendritic Cells in Central Nervous System Autoimmunity: Focusing on Multiple Sclerosis and Emerging Therapeutics Targeting Dendritic Cells

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the sentinel innate immune cells that initiate antigen-specific adaptive immune responses. On the one hand, DCs have been extensively analyzed because of their roles in immune response against pathogens, and on the other hand, there are numerous other studies that have investigated their role in immune tolerance of autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis (MS), and psoriasis. The presence, recruitment, and activation of DCs in the cerebral spinal fluids of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and MP models, initiated the long array of studies of pathogenic and the potential therapeutic role of DCs in MS. Many classic disease-modifying therapies that are employed have used strategies to alter the maturation and function of DCs; several other novel therapeutic strategies are currently under investigations, which we aim to briefly review in this article. We have focused on reviewing the role of DCs in the central nervous system (CNS), underlying their pathogenesis involvement, and proposing targeting therapies for autoimmune CNS disorders.