Contextual control of CD8⁺ T cell priming by dendritic cell subsets in tumor and inflammatory microenvironments.

Authors

Victoria P Schuster, Naomi Berkowitz, Kasidy Brown, Catherine Rousculp, Valentina Laverde, Julia R Unsworth, Megan K Ruhland

Published in

Cell reports. Volume 45. Issue 10. Pages 118070. Sep 29, 2026. Epub Sep 29, 2026.

Abstract

Migratory and lymph node-resident dendritic cells occupy distinct niches and drive T cell activation during infection, vaccination, and cancer. How tissue context and dendritic cell subset-specific transcriptional programs integrate to shape CD8⁺ T cell priming remains incompletely defined. Using fluorescent antigen, we track antigen distribution, dendritic cell transcriptional programming, and cross-presentation across tumor, inflamed, and steady-state tissues. Tumor antigen is more widely distributed among lymph node dendritic cells than skin-derived antigen. Migratory type 1 dendritic cells display higher expression of cross-presentation machinery and superior per-cell cross-presentation and induction of CD8⁺ T cell proliferation compared to lymph node-resident type 1 dendritic cells. Ultimately, antigen access and cell-specific cross-presentation efficiency together predict the quality of CD8⁺ T cell priming. These results identify migratory type 1 dendritic cells as central mediators of antitumor CD8⁺ T cell responses and support therapeutic strategies that augment the efficiency of resident dendritic cell cross-presentation.

PMID:
42809439
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 30 Sep 2026.

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