Harnessing dendritic cells to promote immune tolerance: Opportunities for allergen-specific immunotherapy

Allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) is considered to be the sole curative therapeutic approach of mono allergies. However, the widespread use of SIT is hindered by the small but imminent risk of developing anaphylactic reactions. Another major drawback of SIT is the relatively low efficacy reflected by the long treatment duration. The work described in this thesis aims at establishing the foundations for novel efficacious modalities of SIT. Since the development of immune tolerance mediated by regulatory T (Treg) cells is an essential element for successful SIT, this study focused on the use of regulatory adjuvants, compounds that via their effect on antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs) promote the development of Treg cells.