APC targeted Ag: can it direct Th1 or Th2 responses

[Denis Snider]

On 28 Sep 1995, William F. Wade wrote:

> What evidence is there, if any, that targeting antigen to a specific
> internalization pathway or APC type favors a Th1 vs Th2-type response. 
> 

William,

	I've been doing studies on antigen targetting in vitro and in 
vivo for the last few years.  I have seen nothing in the literature that 
answers your question directly.  So far as is known now, Th1 and Th2 are 
more determined by the nature of the cytokine microenviroment available 
during the initial response of the naive Th precursor.  For instance 
IL-12 and IFN-gamma promote Th1 and IL-4 promotes Th2.  However, it is 
known that the best APC for proper activation of Th precursors is the 
dendritic cell or an activated B cell.  That is from in vitro (no in 
direct in vivo evidence yet) work by among others Drs. S.Swain, T. 
Mossman, Seder, and others, published mostly in JI, JEM, etc/ 

	Good luck.  Let me know if you find more useful information.

Denis Snider   PhD
Associate Professor
Dept. of Pathology
McMaster University