Innate immunity is an essential partner of adaptive immunity

The 2011 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology awarded to three investigators for their work in complementary fields was the initial pretext for this talk. My talk will focus on toll-like receptors (TLR) and dendritic cells (DC). TLR are "tools" used by DC, as well as other cells, to capture antigens and present them to cells involved in adaptive immunity. According to their subtypes, DC are essential for the induction of an immune response or tolerance. The potential for using these molecules and these cells in autoimmunity, infectious disease and cancer research is promising and, hopefully, soon in allergy as well. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.