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ANANBIOANAL - 2010
Pharmaceutical R & D Summit
doi:10.4172/2155-9872.1000039
Dectin-1 Receptor Ligands as Anticancer Agents
Anshu Agrawal and Sudhir Gupta
Division of Basic and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
P
attern-recognition receptors (PRRs) detect molecular signatures of microbes
and initiate immune responses to infection. Immune responses generated
by prototypical PRRs such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have been widely
investigated. In contrast, the immune responses initiated by other classes of
putative PRRs remain ill defined. C-type lectins are a class of PRRs that recognize
carbohydrate structures which are often part of microbial pathogens. Dectin-1 is a
C-type lectin receptor present on dendritic cells that recognizes fungal β-glucans.
Our investigations suggest that Dectin-1 is not just an antigen uptake receptor
but also a modulator or initiator of adaptive immune responses. Human dendritic
cells stimulated with Curdlan, Dectin-1 agonist prime CD4 Th17 responses via IL-
23 production. Furthermore, these CD4 T cells induce differentiation of B cells to
secrete IgG and IgA. More importantly; these dectin-1 stimulated dendritic cells
promote the expansion and differentiation of granzyme B expressing cytotoxic T
lymphocyte that display high cytolytic activity against target tumor cells in vitro. The
capacity of Curdlan-stimulated human DCs to induce differentiation of these cells
makes them attractive target for manipulations in clinic against cancer.
ANALBIOANAL-2010
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