Figure 1. Regulation of mitochondrion-dependent dendritic cells death.
Cytokines, such as GM-CSF, can inhibit cell death in DCs by suppressing the expression of Bim. Signaling through TLRs can simultaneously increase the expression of pro-apoptotic Bim and anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL (18). However, DCs generally survive better after stimulation via TLRs, suggesting a dominant effect for the anti-apoptotic molecules (18). Treg cells can induce cell death in DCs in a Bax- and Bak-dependent manner (84).