Human XCR1+ Dendritic Cells Derived In Vitro from CD34+ Progenitors Closely Resemble Blood Dendritic Cells, Including Their Adjuvant Responsiveness, Contrary to Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells

Functional characterization of human dendritic cell subsets is limited due to the very low frequency of these cells in vivo. We developed an in vitro culture system for the simultaneous generation of XCR1+ DCs and MoDCs from cord blood CD34+ cells. Their global gene expression profiles at steady state and under activation, phenotypes, morphologies and responses to different TLR ligands where characterized and compared with those of their in vivo counterparts. The study demonstrated that the XCR1+ DCs generated in vitro from cord blood CD34+ cells are equivalent to blood XCR1+ DCs and also allowed a rigorous comparison of this DC subset with MoDC which are often considered as the reference model for DCs. Altogether, our results showed that in vitro generated XCR1+ DCs are a better model for the study of blood DC than the conventionally used MoDCs. The different dendritic cell subsets used for the study were either generated in vitro from cord blood CD34+ cells with recombinant human cytokines or isolated from peripheral blood. The subsets were purified by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and their responses to PolyI:C, LPS or R848 were studied including by gene expression profiling.