Mouse Conventional Dendritic Cells Can be Universally Classified Based on the Mutually Exclusive Expression of XCR1 and SIRPα

Since the identification of mouse dendritic cells (DC) in the early 70s, all attempts to consistently classify the identified functional DC subpopulations according to their surface molecule expression failed. In the absence of DC lineage markers, a great variety of non-congruent surface molecules were used instead. Recent advances in the understanding of the involvement of transcription factors in the differentiation of DC subpopulations, together with the identification of a lineage marker for cross-presenting DC, have now allowed to establish a consistent and unified DC classification in the mouse. We demonstrate in the present article that all conventional DC in the mouse can be universally subdivided into either XCR1(+) (“cross-presenting”) DC or SIRPα(+) DC, irrespective of their activation status. This advancement will greatly facilitate future work on the biology of mouse DC. We discuss this new classification in view of current DC classification systems in the mouse and the human.