Conventional dendritic cells articles from across Nature Portfolio

Reis e Sousa et al. show that cDC2As and cDC2Bs are derived from distinct subsets of bone marrow pre-cDC2s, suggesting that the two lineages are ontogenetically determined.

CD4⁺ T cells have been shown to be important in CD8⁺ T cell responses through a process of DC:T cell interaction. Here the authors further characterise this DC:T cell interaction and show that after CD4⁺ T cell help these post-synaptic DCs have increased lipid peroxidation and increased MHC class I proteins associated with increased cross-presentation function.

Type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1) play a pivotal role in the cross-presentation of antigens, enabling efficient CD8 + T cell response. Here authors show that the transcription factor Zeb1 essentially regulates this process via facilitating the reactive-oxygen-species-dependent rupture of phagosomal membrane to allow antigen export to the cytoplasm.

Minimally invasive irreversible electroporation shows some therapeutic promise in irresectable pancreatic cancers that are notorious for poor survival. Here authors combine this with administration of a hydrogel microsphere vaccine that augments the antigen presentation T cell response cascade that naturally initiates following ablation.

Competition for glutamine between type-1 conventional dendritic cells and tumour cells has a central role in tuning the anti-tumour immune response and in immune evasion by cancer cells.

Understanding the ontogeny of conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) is a major aim in the field. The fate of progenitors of the recently described subsets of mouse cDC2s (cDC2A and cDC2B) is determined in the bone marrow.

Mouse macrophages express specialized genes particular to the organs they inhabit, but whether the same applies in humans is unclear. In human peritoneal fluid, we identified many macrophage phenotypes, including two specialized macrophage types that corresponded to distinct mouse peritoneal macrophages. However, their abundances were markedly different between species.

Confusion exists as to whether transitional dendritic cells are a bone fide subset or just a transitional state, as the name indicates. New data are complicating matters further by showing some interesting heterogeneity in these cells.

CD40 has long been known as a co-stimulatory molecule involved in T cell help for dendritic cells, and thereby as a contributor to CD8⁺ T cell immunity against cancers and infections. However, CD40 signaling drives complex functional responses that can contribute to tumor-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses in unexpected ways.