GM-CSF-induced CD40high human blood dendritic cells promote Tfh1 polarization

Using single-cell RNA sequencing (10X technology) on CD4+T cells, we report that GM-CSF-activated human blood CD1c+ dendritic cells (DC) (cDC2) drive the differentiation of naïve CD4+ T cells into Tfh1. These Tfh1 cells displayed typical Tfh molecular features, including high levels of PD-1, CXCR5, and ICOS. They co-expressed Bcl6 and T-bet, and secreted large amounts of IL-21 and IFN-?. Overall design: We performed single cell RNA sequencing using 10X Chromium technology on CD4+ T cells previously co-cultured with three different DC activation conditions (GM-CSF-activated-DC, LPS-activated-DC and Medium-activated-DC). The protocol is detailed below.