Human Dendritic Cell Medium

In vivo, dendritic-cell populations develop through hematopoietic precursor pathways that originate in the bone marrow. Conventional dendritic cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells arise through related but distinct developmental programs, while monocytes can give rise to monocyte-derived dendritic cells under inflammatory conditions and in commonly used in vitro differentiation protocols. Mature dendritic cells are professional antigen-presenting cells that process and present peptide antigens through major histocompatibility complex molecules and provide co-stimulatory signals that help initiate or regulate antigen-specific T-cell responses. Immature dendritic cells are particularly specialized for antigen uptake, whereas maturation generally enhances antigen presentation, co-stimulation, cytokine production, and interaction with T cells.