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Reclassifying plasmacytoid dendritic cells as innate lymphocytes

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 23, pages 1–2 (2023)Cite this article

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With respect to their ontogeny, emerging data support a lymphoid origin of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), which seem to share a developmental trajectory with B cells. By contrast, conventional dendritic cells (DCs) have a myeloid origin in the common dendritic cell progenitor. Furthermore, pDCs do not seem in most cases to share the classical functional properties of conventional DCs, such as presentation of native antigen and migration via the lymphatics. Therefore, we propose here that pDCs should not be classified as dendritic cells and suggest instead that they should be assigned to a subcategory of innate lymphocytes. We emphasize their potent interferon-producing capacity as a defining feature of these cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Monocytomics Research, Herrsching, Germany

    Loems Ziegler-Heitbrock

  2. Department of Biodefense Research, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

    Toshiaki Ohteki

  3. Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore

    Florent Ginhoux

  4. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, Australia

    Ken Shortman

  5. Department of Experimental Immunology, UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Hergen Spits

Authors
  1. Loems Ziegler-Heitbrock
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  2. Toshiaki Ohteki
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  3. Florent Ginhoux
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  4. Ken Shortman
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  5. Hergen Spits
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Correspondence to Loems Ziegler-Heitbrock.

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H.S. is a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Reviews Immunology thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Ziegler-Heitbrock, L., Ohteki, T., Ginhoux, F. et al. Reclassifying plasmacytoid dendritic cells as innate lymphocytes. Nat Rev Immunol 23, 1–2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-022-00806-0

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