Dendritic Cells in Antifungal Immunity and Vaccine Design

Life-threatening fungal infections have increased in recent years while treatment options remain limited. The development of vaccines against fungal pathogens represents a key advance sorely needed to combat the increasing fungal disease threat. Dendritic cells (DC) are uniquely able to shape antifungal immunity by initiating and modulating naive T cell responses. Targeting DC may allow for the generation of potent vaccines against fungal pathogens. In the context of antifungal vaccine design, we describe the characteristics of the varied DC subsets, how DC recognize fungi, their function in immunity against fungal pathogens, and how DC can be targeted in order to create new antifungal vaccines. Ongoing studies continue to highlight the critical role of DC in antifungal immunity and will help guide DC-based vaccine strategies.