Introduction: While medications are available to treat asthma symptoms and control inflammation, no treatments can cure asthma, and efforts to develop primary prevention strategies or improved exacerbation management are limited by incomplete knowledge of the mechanisms responsible for asthma development and progression. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are involved in anti-viral host defense and immune regulation, and increasing evidence suggests a role for pDC in asthma pathogenesis.
Areas covered: We undertook a literature search using PubMed for articles including the phrase 'plasmacytoid dendritic cells and asthma' published from 2015 to 2020. We reviewed the remarkable progress made over the past 5 years in understanding the role of pDC in asthma pathogenesis and how pDC regulate anti-viral immune function. This review highlights key recent findings in asthma pathogenesis and virus-triggered asthma exacerbations; pDC biology and functionality; how pDC regulate the immune response; and pDC function in asthma.
Expert option: A deeper understanding of pDC function provides an important foundation for future pDC-targeted therapies that might prevent and treat asthma.
Keywords: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC); antiviral immunity; asthma; human rhinovirus; immune regulation; type I/III interferon (IFN-I/III).