Conventional type 1 dendritic cell (cDC1)

Conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) are a specialized subset of professional antigen-presenting cells that are essential for the induction of robust cellular immunity against intracellular pathogens and malignant cells (Böttcher & Reis e Sousa, 2018). They are uniquely characterized by their superior capacity for cross-presentation, allowing them to process exogenous antigens and present them on MHC class I molecules to activate CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (Wylie et al., 2019). Within the tumor microenvironment, cDC1s are responsible for capturing tumor antigens, migrating to draining lymph nodes, and secreting chemokines like CXCL9 and CXCL10 to recruit effector T cells (Murphy et al., 2016). High levels of cDC1 infiltration in tumors are associated with improved patient survival and better clinical responses to immune checkpoint blockade (Binnewies et al., 2018). Therapeutic strategies targeting cDC1s often involve the administration of FLT3 ligand to increase their abundance or the use of Toll-like receptor (TLR) and CD40 agonists to trigger their maturation and activation (Sánchez-Paulete et al., 2017). While promising, these therapies must balance effective immune stimulation with the risk of systemic inflammatory side effects or the induction of autoimmunity.

Other names

Type 1 conventional dendritic cellCD141+ dendritic cellBDCA-3+ dendritic cellXCR1+ dendritic cellCLEC9A+ dendritic cellCD8a+ dendritic cell

Activation and expansion of cDC1 populations to enhance antigen cross-presentation and prime cytotoxic T cell responses against tumors or pathogens.