A U.S.-based Korean scientist and his team say they have identified blood monocytes’ relationship to antigen-presenting cells inside living organisms.

Dr. Jeong Cheol-ho and his team at Rockefeller University found that in response to infection by gram-negative bacteria, blood monocytes in mice are recruited to the lymph node where they rapidly differentiate into dendritic cells that present antigens to T cells.

Since the dendritic cells play the same role in humans, the discovery could be used to develop anti-cancer medication and AIDS vaccines.

The results were published in the latest issue of Cell, one of the most influential academic journals in biotechnology.