Interactions of Salmonella enterica with dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) form an important link between innate and adaptive immunity. However, DCs are also deployed as vehicles for systemic spread of pathogens. Salmonella is an important gastrointestinal pathogen causing diseases ranging from gastroenteritis to typhoid fever. DCs play an important role in the immunity against Salmonella infection, but this pathogen has also evolved efficient mechanisms to persist after phagocytosis by DCs, to spread using DCs as vehicles and to interfere with the central function of DCs, the processing of antigens and presentation of antigen-derived peptides to T cells for the stimulation of adaptive immune responses. Here we review the routes used by Salmonella to breach intestinal barriers, the intracellular habitat of Salmonella in DCs, molecular mechanisms of Salmonella virulence factors for intracellular life and intracellular activities in DCs resulting in manipulation of DC functions.