ADJUVANT AND CELL MATURATION AGENT

摘要

Use of CD38, or a portion thereof or analogue thereof which can inhibit the binding of CD38 to a non-follicular dendritic cell (DC) or a follicular dendritic cell (FDC) and which retains the ability of CD38 to stimulate a DC or FDC, for use in the manufacture of an adjuvant for use in immunotherapy. Also provided is a method of maturing DCs in vitro and a vaccine comprising mature DCs. The invention also provides a natural ligand of CD38 on FDCs and DCs and inhibitors of the ligand. The inhibitors can be used for immunosuppression.