Integrated Cross-Species Analysis Identifies a Conserved Transitional Dendritic Cell Population

Publication date: 10 December 2019Source: Cell Reports, Volume 29, Issue 11Author(s): Rebecca Leylek, Marcela Alcántara-Hernández, Zachary Lanzar, Anja Lüdtke, Oriana A. Perez, Boris Reizis, Juliana IdoyagaSummaryPlasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are sensor cells with diverse immune functions, from type I interferon (IFN-I) production to antigen presentation, T cell activation, and tolerance. Regulation of these functions remains poorly understood but could be mediated by functionally specialized pDC subpopulations. We address pDC diversity using a high-dimensional single-cell approach: mass cytometry (CyTOF). Our analysis uncovers a murine pDC-like population that specializes in antigen presentation with limited capacity for IFN-I production. Using a multifaceted cross-species comparison, we show that this pDC-like population is the definitive murine equivalent of the recently described human AXL+ DCs, which we unify under the name transitional DCs (tDCs) given their continuum of pDC and cDC2 characteristics. tDCs share developmental traits with pDCs, as well as recruitment dynamics during viral infection. Altogether, we provide a framework for deciphering the function of pDCs and tDCs during diseases, which has the potential to open new avenues for therapeutic design.Graphical Abstract

Source: Cell Reports - December 11, 2019 Category: Cytology Source Type: research