Pulmonary mucosal dendritic cells in T-cell activation: implications for TB therapy

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of pulmonary TB, causes chronic intracellular infection of lung-resident antigen-presenting cells, including macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). Life-long bacterial control requires robust T-cell immune responses. Lung DCs are critical for initiating and co-ordinating adaptive immune responses against TB. The recent description of previously uncharacterized DC subsets has prompted the …