Overview of dendritic cells subsets and their involvement in immune-related pathological disease

Dendritic cells (DCs) are specialized antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in linking innate and adaptive immune responses. In addition to presenting antigens to T cells, DCs must also provide co-stimulatory signals along with cytokines for T cells to induce an appropriate cellular immune response. Tolerance is also established and maintained by DCs under homeostatic circumstances. There is remarkable phenotypic heterogeneity in DCs, each with different functional flexibility and specific expression of various markers. The three primary categories of DCs comprise conventional DCs (cDCs), plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), and monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs). Langerhans cells (LCs) are another type of DCs, which are found in the skin's epidermal layer. DCs may be positioned or triggered inappropriately as a result of dysregulation of DC. This phenomenon can cause an imbalance in immune responses and even immune-related pathological disorders, i.e., autoimmune diseases and malignancies. Herein, by reviewing the ontogeny, biology, characteristics, and function of DCs subsets in immune system, we discuss the contribution of these cells in the mentioned immune-related disorders.