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Langerhans cells (LC) are a unique population of dendritic cells (DC) found in the epidermis where they can be identified by the expression of CD1a, E-cadherin and cytoplasmic Birbeck granules (BG) as their hallmark. Over the past years many techniques have been described to generate LC in vitro from either monocytes or CD34+ hematopoietic cell progenitors. Antibodies against Lag and Langerin (two epitopes associated with BG) and E-cadherin (a Ca2+-dependent homophilic adhesion molecule) have been used to detect in vitro-generated LC. In this study we investigated whether the expression of E-cadherin on in vitro-generated CD1a+ from either CD34+ cells or monocytes is able to discriminate LC from other DC. Our results demonstrate that E-cadherin alone is not a reliable marker to specifically identify in vitro-generated LC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendritic cells play a major role in the generation of immunity against tumour cells. They can be grown under various culture conditions, which influence the phenotypical and functional properties of dendritic cells and thereby the consecutive immune response mainly executed by T cells. Here we discuss various conditions, which are important during generation and administration of dendritic cells to elicit a tumouricidal T cell-based immune response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]