GSE117945
Co-expression of CD163 and CD141 Identifies Human Circulating IL-10-Producing Dendritic Cells (DC-10) [RNA-seq]
Tolerogenic dendritic cells (DC) are key players in maintaining immunological homeostasis, dampening immune reactions, and promoting tolerance. DC-10, a tolerogenic population of human IL-10-producing DC characterized by the expression of HLA-G and ILT4, play a pivotal role in promoting tolerance via T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells. Thus far, the absence of specific biomarkers that uniquely identify DC-10 limited their studies in vivo. By gene expression profiling of in vitro differentiated human DC, we identified CD141 and CD163 as specific surface markers for DC-10. The co-expression of CD141 and CD163 in combination with CD14 and CD16 enables the ex vivo isolation of blood circulating DC-10. FACS-isolated CD14+CD16+CD141+CD163+ cells (ex vivo DC-10) from peripheral blood of healthy subjects produced spontaneously and upon activation IL-10 and limited levels of IL-12. Moreover, in vitro stimulation of allogeneic naive CD4+ T cells with ex vivo isolated CD14+CD16+CD141+CD163+ cells induced the differentiation of allo-specific Tr1 cells. Finally, ex vivo isolated CD14+CD16+CD141+CD163+ cells and in vitro differentiated DC-10 exhibited a similar transcriptional profile, characterized by anti-inflammatory and pro-tolerogenic signature. These results provide new insight into the DC-10 phenotype and on the role of circulating DC-10 in modulating T cell responses and promoting Tr1 cells. These findings open the opportunity to track DC-10 in vivo and to define their role in physiological and pathological settings. Overall design: Identification of the transcriptional prfile of ex vivo isolated DC-10