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Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (scrapie, BSE, Kuru) develop as central nervous system (CNS) diseases after long incubation periods, and many of which may arise following the consumption of infected material. The infectious agent is thought to be a misfolded form (scrapie associated PrP (PrPSc)) of a normal host protein (cellular isoform of PrP (PrPC)), which is relatively resistant to proteolytic degradation and which serves as a template, directing host prion protein (PrP) to accumulate in the misfolded form. Animal experiments have shown that CNS disease is preceded by a period in which the agent accumulates in secondary lymphoid organs (Peyer''s patches (PP), lymph nodes, spleen), particularly follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) in the B cell areas of these organs. How the agent is transmitted from the intestinal lumen to the FDCs is largely unknown. Dendritic cells (DCs, cells quite distinct from FDCs) are cells that are specialised to acquire antigens from peripheral tissues and to transport them to secondary lymphoid organs for presentation to T and B lymphocytes. We have shown that DCs can acquire PrPSc from the intestinal lumen and deliver it to mesenteric lymph nodes. In this review we discuss the different stages involved in the migration of PrPSc from the intestine to FDCs and consider the different stages and barriers involved in this process. We conclude that transport of the causative agent, using PrPSc as a biomarker, from the intestine to FDCs is a very inefficient process, which may help to account for the apparent low frequency of individuals who have consumed infected material that go on to develop clinical disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical key role in the initiation of immune responses to pathogens. Paradoxically, they also prevent potentially damaging immune responses being directed against the multitude of harmless antigens, to which the body is exposed daily. These roles are particularly important in the intestine, where only a single layer of epithelial cells provides a barrier against billions of commensal microorganisms, pathogens, and food antigens, over a huge surface area. In the intestine, therefore, DCs are required to perform their dual roles very efficiently to protect the body from the dual threats of invading pathogens and unwanted inflammatory reactions. In this review, we first describe the biology of DCs and their interactions with other cells types, paying particular attention to intestinal DCs. We, then, examine the ways in which this biology may become misdirected, resulting in inflammatory bowel disease. Finally, we discuss how DCs potentiate immune responses against viral, bacterial, parasitic infections, and their importance in the pathogenesis of prion diseases. We, therefore, provide an overview of the complex cellular interactions that affect intestinal DCs and control the balance between immunity and tolerance.

Dendritic cells (DCs) migrating via lymph are the primary influence regulating naive T cell differentiation, be it active immunity or tolerance. How DCs achieve this regulation in vivo is poorly understood. Intestinal DCs are in direct contact with harmless or pathogenic luminal contents, but may also be influenced by signals from epithelial cells, macrophages, or other resident or immigrant cells. To understand the role of TLR7 and TLR8 in regulating intestinal DC function, we fed a TLR7/8 ligand (resiquimod (R-848)) to rats and mice and examined DC in pseudoafferent lymph (rat) and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs). Oral R-848 induced a 20- to 30-fold increase in DC output from the intestine within 10 h due to a virtually total release of lamina propria DCs. This resulted in an accumulation of DCs in the MLNs that in mice was completely TNF-alpha dependent. Surprisingly, intestinal lymph DCs (iL-DCs) released by R-848 did not up-regulate CD86, but did up-regulate CD25. In contrast, MLN-DCs from R-848-stimulated rats and mice expressed high levels of CD86. This DC activation in MLNs was dependent on type 1 IFNs. The major source of these rapidly released cytokines is plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) and not classical DCs, because depletion of pDCs significantly reduces the R-848-stimulated increase in serum cytokine levels as well as the accumulation and activation of DCs in MLNs. These experiments show that TLR-mediated regulation of iL-DC functions in vivo is complex and does not depend only on direct iL-DC stimulation, but can be regulated by pDCs.