is therefore likely that specific, as-yet-unknown, tissuedependent factors modulate receptor usage by DCs at different body sites, thus shaping the local immune T helper (Th) reactivity. This would be consistent with recent findings in chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, in which the occurrence of defective production of type 1 cytokines without an obvious increase in type 2 cytokines [namely interleukin (IL)-4 or IL-5], as well as the fluctuating lymphoproliferation and delayed-type hypersensitivity reactivity to the fungus (together with variable levels of IL-10 production) [8] allow for the tempting speculation that an inherent alteration in receptormediated signaling in response to fungal polysaccharide (as postulated in [8]) might predispose patients with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis to dysfunctional induction of regulatory Tcells. This would negatively affect the efficiency of Th1-dependent clearance of the fungus, without inducing non-protective Th2 cells. This implies that the DC–fungal interaction dynamics could be instrumental in orchestrating the appropriate antifungal defense at the different body sites that can operate from early infancy to later in life. References 1 Romani, L. et al. (2002) Fungi, dendritic cells and receptors: a host perspective of fungal virulence. Trends Microbiol. 10, 508–514 2 Casadevall, A. and Pirofski, L. (1999) Host–pathogen interactions: redefining the basic concepts of virulence and pathogenicity. Infect. Immun. 67, 3703–3713 3 Casadevall, A. and Pirofski, L. (2001) Host–pathogen interactions: the attributes of virulence. J. Infect. Dis. 184, 337–344 4 Casadevall, A. and Pirofski, L. (2002) The meaning of microbial exposure, infection, colonisation, and disease in clinical practice. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2, 628–635 5 Bozza, S. et al. (2002) Dendritic cells transport conidia and hyphae of Aspergillus fumigatus from the airways to the draining lymph nodes and initiate disparate Th responses to the fungus. J. Immunol. 168, 1362–1371 6 Fe d’Ostiani, C. et al. (2000) Dendritic cells discriminate between yeasts and hyphae of the fungus Candida albicans: implications for initiation of T helper cell immunity in vitro and in vivo. J. Exp. Med. 191, 1661–1674 7 Montagnoli, C. et al. (2002) B7/CD-28-dependent CD4þCD25þ regulatory Tcells are essential components of the memory protective immunity to Candida albicans. J. Immunol. 169, 6298–6308 8 Lilic, D. (2002) New perspectives on the immunology of chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis. Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. 15, 143–147