Figure 2.

The maturation pathway of dendritic cells. The dendritic cell (middle) drives the development of effector T cells or T-regs. The response against the microbiota-derived antigens regulates the phenotypic expression of costimulatory (CD80/CD86) molecules through Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands and specific cytokine release from dendritic cells. Tolerogenic dendritic cells might shift the balance to restore self-tolerance and reach long-term remission in autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases.