There are two "professional" antigen-presenting cells: macrophages and dendritic cells.
Selection of the appropriate adjuvant, molecules that activate antigen-presenting cells to stimulate immune responses, is required.
They are often found within tissues where they can be activated by antigen-presenting cells upon infection.
An additional co-stimulatory signal is then produced by the antigen-presenting cell, leading to activation of the T cell.
There are three main types of professional antigen-presenting cell:
DCs are highly specialized and efficient antigen-presenting cells.
Cells called antigen-presenting cells bring foreign substances to the attention of specific T-cells and activate them.
They meet up with the antigen-presenting cells they were made to see, and suddenly the T-cell is tricked.
The drug disrupts the mating of the T cell and antigen-presenting cell.
These proteins occupy the cleft on antigen-presenting cells in such a way that T-cell activity is suppressed rather than activated.