Chlamydial-pulsed DC appear to possess the necessary antigenic, co-stimulatory and immunomodulatory features for inducing high levels of Th1 response and the accessory IgA and IgG effectors required for optimal protective immunity against Chlamydia [Igietseme et al., 2000; Su et al., 1998]. This phenomenal efficacy of the DC-based cellular vaccine makes them "natural adjuvants or pre-eminent delivery vehicles", useful as tools to guide the designing of effective delivery systems that mimic the action of DC, for immunizing against chlamydial infections, and to unravel the necessary vaccine machinery both in terms of antigens, immunity and homing requirements. In fact, DC-based cellular vaccines have shown that given an effective delivery vehicle, inactivated chlamydial elementary bodies possess sufficient immunogenic epitopes to elicit a protective immunity against Chlamydia.

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