Development of a dendritic cell model to unravel the secrets of CARDS toxin

Authors

• Lizbeth Gomez, St. Mary's University

Files

Contributor

Segovia, Jesus (Faculty Mentor)

Digital Publisher

Digital Commons at St. Mary's University

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Keywords

Dendritic cells, Community-acquired respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS), Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Respiratory infections

Description

Dendritic cells (DCs) are derived from hematopoietic stem cells of the bone marrow. They are the most efficient antigen presenting cell, presenting antigens to T cells to initiate clonal expansion and differentiation of the T cells into memory and effector cells. Thus, activating the effector functions of T cells in cell-mediated and humoral immune responses (2). Community-acquired respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS) toxin is produced by Mycoplasma pneumoniae that causes acute and chronic lung infections (4). Dendritic cells play a key role in the immune response to respiratory mycoplasmas (3). However, the mechanism underlying in DC and CARDS toxin interactions are unknown. By developing an effective DC model that expresses mature cell surface markers (1), it can be used to evaluate the relationship between DCs and CARDS toxin. We hypothesize that the DC model will express surface markers CD80, CD86, and CD83 indicating a mature DC.

Format

PDF

Size

1 poster

City

San Antonio, Texas

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.