key: cord-0948366-sbs7tl30
authors: Tel, Jurjen; Anguille, Sébastien; Waterborg, Claire E.J.; Smits, Evelien L.; Figdor, Carl G.; de Vries, I. Jolanda M.
title: Tumoricidal activity of human dendritic cells
date: 2013-11-18
journal: Trends Immunol
DOI: 10.1016/j.it.2013.10.007
sha: d7b88b7797af893e97c859b5e5b71464c525fb2c
doc_id: 948366
cord_uid: sbs7tl30

Dendritic cells (DCs) are a family of professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that are able to initiate innate and adaptive immune responses against pathogens and tumor cells. The DC family is heterogeneous and is classically divided into two main subsets, each with its unique phenotypic and functional characteristics: myeloid DCs (mDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs). Recent results have provided intriguing evidence that both DC subsets can also function as direct cytotoxic effector cells; in particular, against cancer cells. In this review, we delve into this understudied function of human DCs and discuss why these so-called killer DCs might become important tools in future cancer immunotherapies.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are a family of professional antigenpresenting cells (APCs) that are able to initiate innate and adaptive immune responses against pathogens and tumor cells. The DC family is heterogeneous and is classically divided into two main subsets, each with its unique phenotypic and functional characteristics: myeloid DCs (mDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs). Recent results have provided intriguing evidence that both DC subsets can also function as direct cytotoxic effector cells; in particular, against cancer cells. In this review, we delve into this understudied function of human DCs and discuss why these so-called killer DCs might become important tools in future cancer immunotherapies.

DCs: commanders-in-chief of the immune army Forty years after their discovery by Zanvil Cohn and Ralph Steinman, DCs continue to fascinate and intrigue immunologists. Although the nomenclature of the DC system is still evolving and novel markers to identify and subclassify DCs are being continually identified, it is well established that the DC family constitutes a heterogeneous group of cells that can be categorized in two main subtypes: mDCs and pDCs. Despite the considerable heterogeneity between the different DC types in terms of phenotype, gene expression profile, and function, a common characteristic of all DCs is their capacity for antigen presentation and their unique ability to prime and activate naïve T lymphocytes. As the primary APCs of the immune system, DCs are pivotal in eliciting adaptive immune responses and, as such, in determining the balance between immunity and tolerance [1] . In addition to their central role in adaptive immunity, DCs also occupy a pre-eminent place within the innate immune system. In this context, DCs express Tolllike receptors (TLRs); a family of innate immune receptors involved in sensing viruses and other microbial stimuli.

DCs are also capable of activating other innate immune cells, including natural killer (NK) cells.

Given their key role in regulating innate and adaptive immunity, DCs are critical for the induction of antitumor immunity [1] . Through their role in the induction of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and through their capacity to harness the cytotoxic activity of innate immune cells (NK cells, NKT cells, and gd T cells), DCs can elicit potent cytotoxic immune responses towards tumor cells [2] . Evidence from animal and human studies indicates that DCs themselves can initiate cytotoxic effector function through which they directly contribute to tumor cell killing. These so-called killer DCs were first described in the mid-1990s, when a population of murine DCs was identified with the capacity to lyse CD4 + T cells in a FASÀFAS ligand (FAS-L)-dependent fashion [3] . Almost one decade later, three research groups independently reported on the existence of a novel DC type within the murine immune system that bore phenotypic, molecular, and functional characteristics of both DCs and NK cells [4] [5] [6] . This DC subtype was termed natural killer dendritic cell (NKDC) or, alternatively, interferon-producing killer DC (IKDC) [4] because of its NK cell-like properties such as cytotoxic activity and capacity to produce high amounts of interferon (IFN)-g [4] [5] [6] . Although NKDCs were capable of antigen processing and presentation, it soon became apparent that this term was actually a misnomer because NKDCs belong to the NK cell lineage and not to the DC lineage [7] [8] [9] . This apparently erroneous terminology has led to confusion and even skepticism over the actual existence of killer DCs.

Recent studies, however, have provided substantial evidence for direct cytotoxic effector function in DCs. These killer DCs, which have been identified in both rodents and humans, appear to constitute a heterogeneous population of cells that have the following characteristics in common: (i) they are endowed with direct cytolytic potential; (ii) they fulfill the phenotypic and functional criteria to be classified as bona fide DCs; and (iii) they cannot be defined as NK cells despite their cytotoxic activity (e.g., absence of classical NK cell surface markers, and target cell profile different from that of NK cells). Here, we summarize the findings accumulated in recent years on killer DCs and discuss the potential relevance of these cells to future immunotherapy strategies. No major differences in mode of action have been identified between rodent and human killer DCs, and because the existence and function of rodent killer DCs has been excellently reviewed elsewhere [10, 11] , we focus this discussion on killer DCs in humans.

Monocytes and monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) as killer cells Immature DCs reside mostly in parts of the body that are in close contact with the outside world, such as skin and mucosal tissue, and are able quickly to sense and take up pathogens that could harm the host. After pathogen recognition, the DCs mature and migrate to lymphoid tissues to present the pathogenic peptides to T cells. MoDCs are by far the most widely used cell type for the study of human DCs ex vivo (Table 1) . Although a variety of protocols exist to generate MoDCs, the basic procedure consists of two phases: (i) monocytes are differentiated into immature DCs using a combination of cytokines [e.g., granulocytemacrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin (IL)-4, IL-15 or IFNa]; and (ii) MoDC maturation is induced with activation stimuli (e.g., proinflammatory cytokines or TLR ligands). Immature DCs exploit a wide variety of pattern recognition receptors to recognize and take up antigens. Several of these differentiating and maturating agents can trigger human MoDCs to acquire a cytotoxic effector function. Different studies have suggested that this cytolytic potential already resides in the monocytic precursor cell compartment (Table 1) . Indeed, human CD14 + as well as CD16 + monocytes stimulated with type I or II IFN, R848 a ligand for TLR7 and TLR8, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) a ligand for TLR4, were shown to exert antitumor activity against a range of cancer cell lines [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] (Table 1 ). In three of these studies, TNF-a-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) was implicated in the direct tumoricidal activity of human monocytes [12, 13, 15] . TRAIL-dependent apoptosis has also been reported to play a role in the cytotoxic activity of human MoDCs. Viruses, including measles virus [18, 19] , cytomegalovirus (CMV) [20] , and HIV-1 [21] [22] [23] , TLR ligands (double-stranded RNA), type I IFNs [24] [25] [26] , IL-15 [27] , and the maturating agent CD40L [28] , are all capable of inducing TRAIL expression in MoDCs (Table 1) . Conversely, another study found that CD40 ligation inhibits TRAIL expression in MoDCs, but the cytotoxic ability of these CD40L-matured MoDCs was preserved, suggesting TRAIL-independent mechanisms for induction of cell death [28] . Indeed, as outlined in Table 1 , both cell contact-dependent and -independent mechanisms have been implicated in MoDC-mediated killing and their cytolytic armamentarium includes, in addition to TRAIL, a broad range of cytotoxic effector molecules such as TNFa [21] [22] [23] [24] 29, 30] , FAS-L [20] [21] [22] 29, 31, 32] , caspase-8 [19, [33] [34] [35] , lymphotoxin (LT)-a1b2 [29] , TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) [21] , IFN-g [28] , granzyme B [27, 36] , and programmed death ligand (PD-L1/2) [32, 37] .

The majority of studies on killer MoDCs have focused on their tumoricidal potential. MoDCs are capable of exerting cytotoxicity against a broad range of tumor cell lines, while sparing normal cells ( Table 1 ). The reasons for this apparent tumor-selective action remain incompletely understood, although the expression of decoy receptors (e.g., TRAIL decoy receptors DR1 and DR2) and the activation of antiapoptotic mechanisms [e.g., upregulation of cellular FADD-like IL-1bconverting enzyme protease-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP)] may help to explain why normal cells are largely resistant to killing by MoDCs [25] .

Despite their seemingly preferential tumor-directed action, under certain circumstances, MoDCs can induce T cell death [21, 32, 37] . This observation was made in several studies ( Table 1) ; all of which were performed in the context of infectious diseases [21, 32, 37] . The first study demonstrated that MoDCs infected with measles virus can induce paracrine killing of autologous T cells [19] . Monocytes [38] and MoDCs [21] exposed to HIV-1 were capable of inducing apoptosis of HIV-1-infected as well as noninfected CD4 + T cells from either allogeneic or autologous origin. In another study, it was shown that LPS-matured MoDCs derived from tuberculosis patients had an increased expression of PD-L1, which underlined their antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity towards both CD4 + and CD8 + T cells [37] . Similarly, LPS-matured MoDCs generated from chronic hepatitis C patients were found to lyse both healthy (allogeneic) as well as patient-derived (autologous) CD4 + T cells in a PD-L2-and FAS-L-dependent fashion [32] . Taken together, these findings indicate that human monocytes and MoDCs, when appropriately stimulated, can function as cytotoxic antitumor effectors and, in the context of chronic infection, also as immunoregulatory cells with T cell killing activity.

Although the observation that ex vivo generated MoDCs can act as direct killer cells is interesting, another relevant question is whether this is also applicable to naturally circulating DCs. Although most studies used MoDCs, several studies have delved into the killer function of blood DCs and have shown that the two main blood DC subsets, mDCs and pDCs, can be cytotoxic. The human blood mDC subset is usually defined as lineage (Lin) -HLA-DR + CD11c + CD123(IL-3Ra) dim cells. Blood mDCs can be further subdivided in nonoverlapping subsets based on the expression of blood dendritic cell antigen (BDCA)-1 (CD1c) and BDCA-3 (CD141) [39] . Classically, mDCs remain in an immature state and migrate from peripheral tissues to lymph nodes after maturation where they can activate T cells. Cytotoxic potential has hitherto been reported for the total CD11c + mDC population, as well as for the CD1c + subset ( Table 2 ). The first description of the direct cytotoxic activity of human blood mDCs dates back to the late 1990s, where CD11c + mDCs, stimulated with IFNa or IFNg, directly lysed various tumor cell lines in a TRAIL-dependent fashion [40] . TRAIL has also been implicated in blood DC-mediated cytotoxicity in two other studies [41, 42] (Table 2). By contrast, TRAIL seems not to be an important mediator of cytotoxicity by TLR-activated mDCs. A recent study showed that neither BDCA-1 + nor BDCA-3 + mDCs produce TRAIL after exposure to TLR ligands [43] . In line with this, it was observed that tumor-infiltrating CD11c + mDCs express and secrete perforin and granzyme B, but not TRAIL, upon TLR7 and TLR8 stimulation [44] .

Trends in Immunology January 2014, Vol. 35, No. 1 Granzyme B has also been implicated in mDC-mediated apoptosis in IL-15-activated CD11c + mDCs [45] . Taken together, these data illustrate that killer mDCs, like their in vitro MoDC counterparts, can exploit a variety of cytotoxic effector mechanisms to exert killing function (Table  2) . Similar to MoDCs, most studies on the killer function of native blood mDCs have been performed using tumor cell lines as target cells. The ability of blood mDCs to kill T cells was examined in one study that showed LPS-activated BDCA-1 + mDCs from chronic hepatitis C patients induced lysis of autologous patient T cells as well as allogeneic healthy T cells in a FAS-L-and PD-L2-dependent fashion ( Table 2 ) [32] . This study provides evidence for the ability of native blood mDCs to kill T cells during chronic viral infection; a mechanism that may be exploited by viruses to escape antiviral T cells.

pDCs as killer cells pDCs are defined as Lin -D11c -CD4 + CD45RA + IL-3Ra(C-D123) + ILT3 + cells. Additionally, the markers BDCA-2 (CD303), BDCA-4 (CD304), and immunoglobulin-like transcript (ILT)7 are restricted to pDCs both in peripheral blood and bone marrow [46] . On the functional level, human pDCs differ from other DC subsets by their ability to produce large amounts of type I IFNs upon TLR7 or TLR9 ligation by viral or bacterial components [47] . pDCs are generally found to circulate in the periphery, however they can infiltrate tissue in case of infection, inflammation, or tumor [44, 48] . Like their myeloid counterparts, pDCs are also described to exert a direct cytotoxic function ( Figure 1 and Table 2 ). For example, the human pDC cell line GEN2.2 is capable of lysing tumor cells in a partly TRAIL-dependent manner after stimulation with inactivated influenza virus or type I IFNs (Table 2 ). This pDC cell line expresses the NK cell surface marked CD56, whereas other NK cell markers are absent [49] . pDCs activated by the tick-borne encephalitis vaccine FMSE also upregulate CD56, whereas IL-3 or several TLR agonists do not induce upregulation [50] . The CD56 + pDCs express high amounts of TRAIL and granzyme B but neither the cytotoxic molecules nor CD56 are required for the observed cytotoxicity. Nevertheless, the killing capacity is dependent on cell-to-cell contact, whereby FSME-pDCs specifically lyse MHC-class-I-negative tumor cell lines Daudi and K562, but not MHC class I positive cell lines [50] . By contrast, pDCs stimulated with imiquimod (a TLR7 agonist and to lesser extend TLR8 agonist), CpG, or IFNa kill MHC-class-I-positive tumor cells in a TRAIL-and contact-dependent manner [44, 51] . Although TRAIL appears to be an important mediator of pDC-mediated cytotoxicity, other cytotoxic effector molecules are implicated (Table 2) . It has been shown that different cytotoxic effector molecules are expressed by blood pDCs, including TRAIL, granzyme B, and lysozyme. High lysozyme expression by the CD2 high pDC subset has been observed, although this is not related to the increased cytotoxic activity of the CD2 high pDCs as compared to their CD2 low counterparts. It is important to note that the high lysozyme expression in the CD2 high pDC subset could not be confirmed in another independently performed study [51] , indicating that other mechanisms, such as the superior ability of Chronic hepatitis C patients. c Abbreviations: ADCC, antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity; CB, cord blood; E: T ratio, effector cell to target cell ratio; FADD, FAS-associated protein with death domain; HPV, human papillomavirus; ND, not determined; PB, peripheral blood; TGF, transforming growth factor.

Trends in Immunology January 2014, Vol. 35, No. 1 CD2 high pDCs over CD2 low pDCs to bind their targets, might be involved in the cytotoxic action of CD2 high pDCs [52] . Expression of granzyme B has been observed in unstimulated pDCs [51, 52] as well as in pDCs stimulated with IL-3 and/or IL-10 [50, 53, 54] , but this molecule only seems to contribute to cytotoxicity in the stimulated pDCs. These granzyme-B-producing, IL-3-and IL-10-activated pDCs target T cells in a granzyme-B-dependent, but perforinindependent manner [54] . This confirms the findings by others that killer DCs can mediate cytotoxicity through the granzyme pathway while being completely devoid of perforin [27, 51] . Apart from granzyme B, TRAIL has also been implicated as a mediator of T cell lysis by pDCs. pDCs stimulated with purified human T cell leukemia virus (HTLV)-1 or HIV-1 upregulate TRAIL and induced TRAIL-dependent apoptosis in primary CD4 + T cells or CD4 + T cell lines [55, 56] . Both the TLR7 pathway and endosomal degradation are involved in the transformation of pDCs into their killer variant by HLTV-1 [55] . In agreement with this, pDCs isolated from viremic HIV patients express TRAIL and induce apoptosis of HIVinfected CD4 + T cells [57] . In another study, TRAIL + pDCs 

Trends in Immunology January 2014, Vol. 35, No. 1 displayed no cytotoxic responsiveness to HIV-infected autologous CD4 + T cells, but were capable of inducing apoptosis of an HIV-infected CD4 + T cell line [58] . The ability of human killer pDCs to induce apoptosis in virusinfected cells may be a protective mechanism by which the host immune system controls virus spread [59] .

Killer DCs in the war on cancer Indirect cytotoxic effects of pDC-derived type I IFNs pDCs are generally accepted as the major type I IFNproducing cells of the immune system. These type I IFNs can initiate protective immunity through maturation of mDCs and subsequent activation of T cells and NK cells (reviewed in [60] ). Thereby, pDCs may play a central role in inducing indirect cytotoxic activity against tumors via various pathways, for example, apoptosis induction and anti-angiogenesis via signaling through a common IFNa receptor. Furthermore, the direct inhibitory effects on tumor cell growth/functions were thought to be the major mechanisms in the antitumor response in IFN-treated patients. In fact, IFNa can directly inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo, and can exert other direct effects on tumor cells (Figure 2 ) [61] . Next to a direct cytotoxic and cytostatic effect, IFNa also has wide stimulatory effects on other immune cells. As discussed above, monocytes can differentiate into killer DCs under the control of IFNa. In addition, recent studies have shown that IFNa also improves mDC survival and the capacity to store and process exogenous antigens, leading to enhanced cross-presentation and cross-priming of antigen-specific CD8 + T cell responses [62, 63] . In vivo evidence was recently provided by two independent studies showing that, in mice, type I IFNs were critical for the induction of antitumor immune responses [62, 64] . Furthermore, type I IFNs can regulate NK cell function, by enhancing the of NK cells to kill target cells and to produce IFNg [65] . Also, type I IFNs promote the accumulation and/or survival of proliferating NK cells by the type I IFN and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1-dependent induction of IL-15 [65] .

These studies suggest that upon activation, pDCs can exert a wide variety of indirect cytotoxic antitumor effects ( Figure 2 ). This notion is underscored by a study demonstrating that either pDC or IFNa depletion leads to a loss of the TRAIL-mediated tumor cell killing by CD14 + monocytes. This highlights a crucial role for pDC-derived IFNa in antitumor immunity [66] . The expression of TRAIL on a wide variety of immune cells is known to be regulated by type I IFNs [67, 68] . Moreover, in some studies there has even been a direct link between pDC-derived type IFN, TRAIL expression, and target killing in the context of HIV [57, 69] . Whether or not killer pDCs also acquire TRAIL expression under all other reported conditions in a para- 

Trends in Immunology January 2014, Vol. 35, No. 1 crine or autocrine type-I-IFN-dependent manner remains to be determined.

The discovery of the ability of DCs to become tumor cell killers has generated new opportunities for future nonconventional immunotherapeutic strategies. It is generally accepted that macrophages and DCs outnumber NK cells and CTLs in tumor tissues, making these professional APCs ideal candidates to target and induce an antitumor response [10] . Human DCs infiltrate a vast range of tumors including skin cancer, ovarian carcinoma, and lung and colorectal cancer. However, this infiltration does not lead to a conclusive role in prognosis [48] . Infiltration by pDCs in breast cancer and ovarian carcinoma is correlated with an adverse prognostic outcome [70, 71] , whereas infiltration of pDCs in lung cancer does not correlate with prognosis [72] .

In particular, a tolerogenic state seems to be of importance because DCs can remain in an inactivated state due to the immunosuppressive environment of the tumor [48] . Nevertheless, some studies have shown tumor regression upon treatment with several TLR agonists, such as CpG or imiquimod. Stary et al. have shown that, upon treatment of basal cell carcinoma patients with imiquimod, mDCs and pDCs are recruited to the tumor site and express cytotoxic effector molecules [44] . In a mouse model of transplantable melanoma, treatment with imiquimod led to tumor clearance in a manner dependent on production of chemokine CC ligand (CCL)2 by mast cells. CCL2 induced the massive recruitment of pDCs into the skin, leading to a pDC-dependent reduced melanoma growth [73] . In another study, treatment of human basal cell carcinoma with imiquimod resulted in tumor regression by recruiting pDCs that specifically lysed the tumor cells expressing TRAIL receptor 1 in a TRAIL-dependent manner, and mDCs that expressed granzyme B [44] . The fact that pDCs only lysed cells expressing TRAILR1 indicates that these cells have the capacity to act as anticancer effector cells, thereby showing potential as targets for tumor clearance. These data suggest that tumor-infiltrating DCs can act as killer cells that are directly involved in tumor clearance. A recent study demonstrated that depletion of unactivated pDCs in an orthotopic mammary tumor model delayed tumor growth; however, in the same model, intratumoral administration of a TLR7 agonist led to pDCand type-I-IFN-dependent tumor regression [74] . These findings point to a Janus-faced function of tumor infiltrating pDCs, and suggest that their function can be largely determined by context and activation state.

Indirect antitumoral activity of killer DCs via amplification of the adaptive immune response In the past decade, clinical trials carried out by investigators worldwide have shown that vaccination with DCs loaded ex vivo with tumor peptides can induce tumorspecific immune responses in patients with advanced cancer [75] . However, the clinical results obtained so far have been rather disappointing, with only a minority of the treated patients showing long-lasting clinical responses. Many research efforts are currently being undertaken to improve the clinical efficacy of DC-based cancer immunotherapy protocols. Thus far, virtually all clinical trials were based on ex vivo generated DCs, either derived from monocytes or CD34 + progenitor cells. Only recently, the possibility has been explored to exploit scarce naturally circulating DCs such as pDCs to vaccinate end-stage melanoma patients, which showed promising results in terms of overall survival [2] .

Several research groups have demonstrated that human killer DCs, apart from their direct tumoricidal activity, can present tumor antigen to T cells, providing a strong rationale for the use of killer DCs in DC-based vaccination protocols. Both IL-15 and IFNa differentiated CD56 + MoDCs were found to be efficient stimulators of antigenspecific T cell responses [26, 27] . Human pDCs also have the capacity to present antigens and be potent stimulators of both CD4 + and CD8 + T cell responses [2, 50, 76] . The high effector: target ratios that are required to detect killing activity argue in favor of a more predominant role for DCs in the acquisition and presentation of antigens rather than a role as effector cells capable of killing of tumor or virusinfected cells.

We have reviewed recent studies providing evidence for an effector role for DCs in cytolysis. We propose that DCs, and pDCs in particular, present a promising target for immunotherapy because they infiltrate tumor lesions and are, upon activation, capable of specifically kill tumor cells, either directly or via activation of other cytotoxic effector cells. However, many questions remain before killer DCs Figure 2 . Indirect cytotoxicity of human killer DC subsets. Antigen-loaded killer DCs have the ability to activate antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells that in turn can lyse target cells. Whether killer DCs also have the ability to cross-present antigens obtained from killed target cells and thereafter cross-prime cytotoxic T cells is unclear. Furthermore, human pDCs produce large amounts of type I IFNs upon stimulation and, next to a direct cytotoxic effect, can exert indirect cytotoxic effects by: (i) activating NK cells; (ii) enhancing antigen cross-presentation and crosspriming of T cells; and (iii) generating of IFNa-induced killer MoDCs/mDCs. Abbreviations: CPG, CpG oligodeoxynucleotides; DC, dendritic cell; Flu, influenza; FSME, frü h sommer meningo-encephalitis; HIV-1, human immunodeficiency virus 1; HTLV, human T lymphotropic virus; IFN, interferon; NK, natural killer; TBEV, tickborne encephalitis virus.

Trends in Immunology January 2014, Vol. 35, No. 1 can be used in their full capacity in a clinical situation. How exactly do killer DCs recognize tumor/target cells, and in particular MHC-class-I-negative cells? What are the exact mechanisms that these DCs use, for example, exclusively TRAIL or other mechanisms? Furthermore, can human killer DC cross-present antigens derived from their killed target cells? Answering these questions may help to exploit these killer DCs for immunotherapy.

Dendritic cells and the control of immunity

Natural human plasmacytoid dendritic cells induce antigen-specific T-cell responses in melanoma patients

Dendritic cells and T lymphocytes: developmental and functional interactions

Interferon-producing killer dendritic cells provide a link between innate and adaptive immunity

A novel dendritic cell subset involved in tumor immunosurveillance

Natural killer dendritic cells have both antigen presenting and lytic function and in response to CpG produce IFN-gamma via autocrine IL-12

Development and function of murine B220+CD11c+NK1.1+ cells identify them as a subset of NK cells

CD11cloB220+ interferon-producing killer dendritic cells are activated natural killer cells

Putative IKDCs are functionally and developmentally similar to natural killer cells, but not to dendritic cells

Killer dendritic cells: IKDC and the others

Killer dendritic cells and their potential for cancer immunotherapy

Monocyte-mediated tumoricidal activity via the tumor necrosis factor-related cytokine

Increased numbers of tumor-lysing monocytes in cancer patients

Phenotype and function of a CD56+ peripheral blood monocyte

Involvement of TWEAK in interferon gamma-stimulated monocyte cytotoxicity

Tumoricidal potential of native blood dendritic cells: direct tumor cell killing and activation of NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity

Native human blood dendritic cells as potent effectors in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity

Measles virus induces functional TRAIL production by human dendritic cells

Measles virus suppresses cell-mediated immunity by interfering with the survival and functions of dendritic and T cells

Targeting the function of mature dendritic cells by human cytomegalovirus: a multilayered viral defense strategy

HIV type 1-infected dendritic cells induce apoptotic death in infected and uninfected primary CD4 T lymphocytes

HIV-1 Nef equips dendritic cells to reduce survival and function of CD8+ T cells: a mechanism of immune evasion

Dendritic cells infected with vpr-positive human immunodeficiency virus type 1 induce CD8+ T-cell apoptosis via upregulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha

Cytotoxic activity of human dendritic cells is differentially regulated by double-stranded RNA and CD40 ligand

The involvement of TNF-alpha-related apoptosisinducing ligand in the enhanced cytotoxicity of IFN-beta-stimulated human dendritic cells to tumor cells

IFN-alpha skews monocytes into CD56+-expressing dendritic cells with potent functional activities in vitro and in vivo

Interleukin-15-induced CD56(+) myeloid dendritic cells combine potent tumor antigen presentation with direct tumoricidal potential

Gene transfer of CD40-ligand to dendritic cells stimulates interferon-gamma production to induce growth arrest and apoptosis of tumor cells

Innate direct anticancer effector function of human immature dendritic cells. II. Role of TNF, lymphotoxin-alpha(1)beta(2), Fas ligand, and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand

Human dendritic cells induce tumor-specific apoptosis by soluble factors

Immature dendritic cells kill ovarian carcinoma cells by a FAS/FASL pathway, enabling them to sensitize tumorspecific CTLs

Myeloid dendritic cells can kill T cells during chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Tumoricidal activity of monocyte-derived dendritic cells: evidence for a caspase-8-dependent, Fas-associated death domain-independent mechanism

Human allogeneic and murine xenogeneic dendritic cells are cytotoxic to human tumor cells via two distinct pathways

Distinct mechanisms are involved in tumoristatic and tumoricidal activities of monocyte-derived dendritic cells

Enhanced anti-cancer activity of human dendritic cells sensitized with gamma-irradiation-induced apoptotic colon cancer cells

Cytotoxic activity of dendritic cells as a possible mechanism of negative regulation of T lymphocytes in pulmonary tuberculosis

Priming of human CD4+ antigen-specific T cells to undergo apoptosis by HIV-infected monocytes. A two-step mechanism involving the gp120 molecule

Characterization of human blood dendritic cell subsets

Human dendritic cells mediate cellular apoptosis via tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)

Innate direct anticancer effector function of human immature dendritic cells. I. Involvement of an apoptosisinducing pathway

Impaired TRAIL-dependent cytotoxicity of CD1c-positive dendritic cells in chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Human blood mDC subsets exhibit distinct TLR repertoire and responsiveness

Tumoricidal activity of TLR7/8-activated inflammatory dendritic cells

IL-15 activated human peripheral blood dendritic cell kill allogeneic and xenogeneic endothelial cells via apoptosis

BDCA-2, BDCA-3, and BDCA-4: three markers for distinct subsets of dendritic cells in human peripheral blood

Plasmacytoid monocytes migrate to inflamed lymph nodes and produce large amounts of type I interferon

Deciphering the message broadcast by tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells

Virus or TLR agonists induce TRAILmediated cytotoxic activity of plasmacytoid dendritic cells

Human plasmacytoid dendritic cells are equipped with antigen-presenting and tumoricidal capacities

TRAIL(+) human plasmacytoid dendritic cells kill tumor cells in vitro: mechanisms of imiquimod-and IFN-alphamediated antitumor reactivity

CD2 distinguishes two subsets of human plasmacytoid dendritic cells with distinct phenotype and functions

Functional expression of granzyme B in human plasmacytoid dendritic cells: a role in allergic inflammation

Granzyme B produced by human plasmacytoid dendritic cells suppresses T-cell expansion

Free HTLV-1 induces TLR7-dependent innate immune response and TRAIL relocalization in killer plasmacytoid dendritic cells

HIV turns plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) into TRAIL-expressing killer pDC and down-regulates HIV coreceptors by Toll-like receptor 7-induced IFN-alpha

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) from HIV controllers produce interferon-alpha and differentiate into functional killer pDCs under HIV activation

Inability of plasmacytoid dendritic cells to directly lyse HIV-infected autologous CD4+ T cells despite induction of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand

Boosting p53 with interferon and viruses

Interferon-alpha as antiviral and antitumor vaccine adjuvants: mechanisms of action and response signature

Interferon-alpha in acute myeloid leukemia: an old drug revisited

Type I interferon is selectively required by dendritic cells for immune rejection of tumors

IFN-alpha enhances cross-presentation in human dendritic cells by modulating antigen survival, endocytic routing, and processing

Host type I IFN signals are required for antitumor CD8+ T cell responses through CD8{alpha}+ dendritic cells

Coordinated and distinct roles for IFN-alpha beta, IL-12, and IL-15 regulation of NK cell responses to viral infection

Plasmacytoid dendritic cell-derived IFN-alpha induces TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand/Apo-2L-mediated antitumor activity by human monocytes following CpG oligodeoxynucleotide stimulation

Type I interferons (IFNs) regulate tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) expression on human T cells: a novel mechanism for the antitumor effects of type I IFNs

Apoptosis and interferons: role of interferon-stimulated genes as mediators of apoptosis

Regulation of TNF-related apoptosisinducing ligand on primary CD4+ T cells by HIV-1: role of type I IFN-producing plasmacytoid dendritic cells

Dendritic cell infiltration and prognosis of early stage breast cancer

Quantitative and functional alterations of plasmacytoid dendritic cells contribute to immune tolerance in ovarian cancer

CD1c+ and CD303+ dendritic cells in peripheral blood, lymph nodes and tumor tissue of patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer

Imiquimod clears tumors in mice independent of adaptive immunity by converting pDCs into tumor-killing effector cells

Tumor promotion by intratumoral plasmacytoid dendritic cells is reversed by TLR7 ligand treatment

Dendritic cell immunotherapy: mapping the way

Human plasmacytoid dendritic cells efficiently cross-present exogenous Ags to CD8+ T cells despite lower Ag uptake than myeloid dendritic cell subsets

TLR7/8 agonists trigger immunostimulatory properties of human 6-sulfo LacNAc dendritic cells

In vitro growth inhibition of a broad spectrum of tumor cell lines by activated human dendritic cells

Dendritic cells induce the death of human papillomavirus-transformed keratinocytes

Activated human umbilical cord blood dendritic cells kill tumor cells without damaging normal hematological progenitor cells

Monocyte derived dendritic cells generated by IFN-alpha acquire mature dendritic and natural killer cell properties as shown by gene expression analysis

OK432-activated human dendritic cells kill tumor cells via CD40/CD40 ligand interactions

Does the 3-gene diagnostic assay accurately distinguish benign from malignant thyroid neoplasms?

Toll-like receptors, chemokine receptors and death receptor ligands responses in SARS coronavirus infected human monocyte derived dendritic cells

Aglycosylated IgG variants expressed in bacteria that selectively bind FcgammaRI potentiate tumor cell killing by monocyte-dendritic cells

Cytotoxic dendritic cells generated from cancer patients

A novel dendritic cell-based immunization approach for the induction of durable Th1-polarized anti-HER-2/neu responses in women with early breast cancer

Human dendritic cell mediated cytotoxicity against breast carcinoma cells in vitro

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells express TRAIL and induce CD4+ T-cell apoptosis in HIV-1 viremic patients

Engagement of BDCA-2 blocks TRAILmediated cytotoxic activity of plasmacytoid dendritic cells

This work was supported by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO ZonMW) (Vidi grant 91776363 to IJMdV), the Netherlands Institute for Regenerative Medicine (NIRM, grant No. FES0908) and EU (ERC grant 269019). ES is a former postdoctoral research fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen) and is supported by a training grant of the Belgian Hematological Society. SA is a former PhD fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders and currently holds an Emmanuel Van der Schueren Fellowship of the Flemish League against Cancer (Vlaamse Liga tegen Kanker). SA is also supported by a personal grant from the Belgian Foundation against Cancer and the Belgian public utility foundation VOCATIO. CGF was awarded with the NWO Spinoza award.