Figure 1.

The influence of immunogenic versus non-immunogenic tumor cell death on dendritic cell (DC) maturation/activation and DC-mediated antitumor immunity. Non-immunogenic tumor cell death does not elicit DC maturation or activation, leaving DC in an immature state in which they either (1) fail to “sense” tumor cell death and therefore do not acquire tumor antigen (Ag) for presentation to naïve T lymphocytes or (2) acquire tumor Ag through phagocytosis and induce T cell tolerance. On the other hand, immunogenic tumor cell death, which can be elicited by various physical, chemical, and biological modalities, results in the release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that are recognized by pattern recognition receptors on DC, resulting in the delivery of “danger” signals that promote the maturation and activation of DC capable of stimulating antitumor T cell activation.