Poltorak Mateusz Pawel, Schraml Barbara Ursula
Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München , Munich , Germany.
Front Immunol. 2015 May 4;6:199. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00199. eCollection 2015.
Dendritic cells (DCs) are a heterogeneous group of mononuclear phagocytes with versatile roles in immunity. They are classified predominantly based on phenotypic and functional properties, namely their stellate morphology, expression of the integrin CD11c, and major histocompatibility class II molecules, as well as their superior capacity to migrate to secondary lymphoid organs and stimulate naïve T cells. However, these attributes are not exclusive to DCs and often change within inflammatory or infectious environments. This led to debates over cell identification and questioned even the mere existence of DCs as distinct leukocyte lineage. Here, we review experimental approaches taken to fate map DCs and discuss how these have shaped our understanding of DC ontogeny and lineage affiliation. Considering the ontogenetic properties of DCs will help to overcome the inherent shortcomings of purely phenotypic- and function-based approaches to cell definition and will yield a more robust way of DC classification.
树突状细胞（DCs）是一类异质性的单核吞噬细胞，在免疫中发挥着多种作用。它们主要根据表型和功能特性进行分类，即其星状形态、整合素CD11c的表达、主要组织相容性复合体II类分子，以及它们迁移至次级淋巴器官并刺激初始T细胞的卓越能力。然而，这些特性并非DCs所特有，且在炎症或感染环境中常常会发生变化。这引发了关于细胞识别的争论，甚至对DCs作为独特白细胞谱系的存在提出了质疑。在此，我们回顾了用于追踪DCs命运的实验方法，并讨论了这些方法如何塑造了我们对DCs个体发生和谱系归属的理解。考虑到DCs的个体发生特性将有助于克服基于纯粹表型和功能的细胞定义方法所固有的缺点，并将产生一种更可靠的DCs分类方法。
