NCIt definition : A mature polarized dendritic cell with potent immunostimulating activity. Treating
dendritic cells (DCs) with interferon-alpha (IFN-a) and polyinosinic:polycytidylic
acid (p-I:C) in addition to a cytokine cocktail (tumor necrosis factor alpha/Interleukin-1beta/IFN-gamma)
produces mature but not exhausted alpha type-1 polarized DCs (alphaDC1) that are capable
of: 1) high responsiveness to other lymphoid chemokines, and 2) producing high level
of interleukin-12p70 (IL-12p70). Therefore, alphaDC1 has a much more significant capability
of inducing helper T cell (CD4 T-cell) responses in comparison with the gold standard
DCs. When pulsed with specific tumor associated antigens (TAAs), alphaDC1 is able
to induce a potent cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response against TAAs; as a result
it can be used as a cancer vaccine.;