NanoSTRING dendritic cell subpopulation

High-dimensional approaches have revealed emerging heterogeneity within dendritic cells (DC), including a population of transitional DC (tDC) present in mouse and human. However, tDC origin and relationship to other DC subsets are not fully understood because their phenotype partially overlaps with previous definitions of conventional DC precursors (pre-cDC). Here, we show that tDC are distinct from other well-characterized DC and pre-cDC. By combining single-cell transcriptomics, high-dimensional immunophenotyping, lineage tracing and adoptive transfer experiments, we demonstrate that murine tDC originate from bone marrow progenitors shared with plasmacytoid DC (pDC) that are distinct from CD115-expressing conventional DC progenitors. In the periphery, tDC contribute to the pool of Esam+ type 2 DC (DC2), and these tDC-derived DC2 harbor pDC-related developmental features. tDC have lower turnover than pre-cDC2, capture antigen, respond to stimuli, and potently antigen-specific naïve T cells, all characteristics of differentiated DC. Different from pDC, viral sensing by tDC results in IL-1β secretion and fatal immune pathology in a model of murine coronavirus. Our findings suggest that tDC are a distinct pDC-related lineage with a DC2 differentiation potential and unique pro-inflammatory function during viral infections. The objective of this experiment was to evaulate the transcriptional changes in various dendritic cell subpopulations Nanostring on sorted subsets of dendritic cells