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Updated: May 30, 2026

Development and Functional Characterization of Murine Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells
Published on: May 18, 2018
The role of retinoic acid in tolerance and immunity
Jason A Hall1, John R Grainger, Sean P Spencer
1Mucosal Immunology Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. halljas@niaid.nih.gov
Abstract:
Vitamin A elicits a broad array of immune responses through its metabolite, retinoic acid (RA). Recent evidence indicates that loss of RA leads to impaired immunity, whereas excess RA can potentially promote inflammatory disorders. In this review, we discuss recent advances showcasing the crucial contributions of RA to both immunological tolerance and the elicitation of adaptive immune responses. Further, we provide a comprehensive overview of the cell types and factors that control the production of RA and discuss how host perturbations may affect the ability of this metabolite to control tolerance and immunity or to instigate pathology.
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