The invention relates to a method for producing tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs) with specific antigens, comprising the steps of: (a) culturing precursors of dendritic cells in an animal-serum-free medium, using cytokines, IL-4 and GM-CSF, in order to differentiate same in dendritic cells; (b) producing apoptotic cells; (c) culturing the dendritic cells obtained in step (b) in the presence of compounds having anti-inflammatory activity; (d) co-culturing the dendritic cells from step (d) with the apoptotic cells from step (c), such as to stimulate the endocytosis of the apoptotic cells by the dendritic cells; (e) and, by means of identification based on phenotypic evaluation, determining the production of tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs) with specific antigens. The invention also relates to the tolDC cells produced with said method and to the use of said tolDCs with specific antigens in the production of a drug suitable for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.

The present invention relates to methods of constructing an integrated artificial immune system that comprises appropriate in vitro cellular and tissue constructs or their equivalents to mimic the normal tissues that interact with vaccines in mammals. The artificial immune system can be used to test the efficacy of vaccine candidates in vitro and thus, is useful to accelerate vaccine development and testing drug and chemical interaction with the immune system.

The present invention provides a thymic epithelial cell production method, the method including a step for culturing thymic epithelial progenitor cells for a long period of time. The present invention also provides a transplant therapeutic agent that includes thymic epithelial cells produced by the production method according to the present invention. The present invention further provides a T cell production method, the method including a feature of causing thymic epithelial cells produced by the production method according to the present invention to contact hematopoietic stem cells or any cells in the process of differentiation from hematopoietic stem cells to T cells.