Review Article
Seham A Abd El-Aleem and En
Abstract
Follicular Dendritic Cells (FDCs) biology became a hot research area in the last decade. This review aims to givea comprehensive overview about FDCs and their involvements in physiological and pathological conditions.FDCs are unique accessory immune cells contribute to the regulation of humoral immunity. They are multi-taskercells essential for organization and maintenance of the lymphoid architecture, induction of germinal center reaction,production of B memory cells, and protection from autoimmune disorders. They perform their activities through bothantigen driven and chemical signaling to B-cells. Beyond their physiological immunoregulatory functions, FDCs areinvolved in the pathogenesis of several immune related disorders including HIV/AIDS, prion diseases, and chronicinflammatory and autoimmune disorders. Last decade, FDCs have been extensively considered in rare neoplasmsof lymphoid and hematopoietic tissues.FDCs play a crucial role in the physiological regulation of immune response. Dis-regulation of the immuneresponse results when FDCs retain antigens for years. This provides a constant antigenic stimulation for B-cellresulting in the development of immune disorders. Antigen trapped on FDCs, are resistant to therapeutic interventioncausing chronicity and recurrences.Understanding FDC biology is essential for better control of humoral immunity and opens the gate for therapeuticmanagement of FDC-mediated immune disorders.