The immune system must distinguish viable cells from cells damaged by physical and infective processes. The damaged cell-recognition molecule Clec9A is expressed on the surface of the mouse and human dendritic cell subsets specialized for the uptake and processing of material from dead cells. Clec9A recognizes a conserved component within nucleated and nonnucleated cells, exposed when cell membranes are damaged. We have identified this Clec9A ligand as a filamentous form of actin in association with particular actin-binding domains of cytoskeletal proteins. We have determined the crystal structure of the human CLEC9A C-type lectin domain and propose a functional dimeric structure with conserved tryptophans in the ligand recognition site. Mutation of these residues ablated CLEC9A binding to damaged cells and to the isolated ligand complexes. We propose that Clec9A provides targeted recruitment of the adaptive immune system during infection and can also be utilized to enhance immune responses generated by vaccines.

Abbreviations: 3-MA, 3-methyladenine; Atg7-DC CKO, Atg7 DC conditional knockout; BafA, bafilomycin A 1 ; CD, cluster of differentiation; CTL, cytotoxic T lymphocyte; DC, dendritic cell; DALIS, dendritic cell aggresome-like inducible structures; green fluorescent protein, GFP; IFC imaging flow cytometry; LAP, LC3 associated phagocytosis; LC3B, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 b; MHC II, major histocompatibility complex class II; MHC I, major histocompatibility complex class I; OVA, ovalbumin; OT-I, OVA-specific CD8 C T cell; OT-II, OVA-specific CD4 C T cell; SIM, structured illumination microscopy.Antigen-presenting cells survey their environment and present captured antigens bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Formation of MHC-antigen complexes occurs in specialized compartments where multiple protein trafficking routes, still incompletely understood, converge. Autophagy is a route that enables the presentation of cytosolic antigen by MHC class II molecules. Some reports also implicate autophagy in the presentation of extracellular, endocytosed antigen by MHC class I molecules, a pathway termed "cross-presentation." The role of autophagy in cross-presentation is controversial. This may be due to studies using different types of antigen presenting cells for which the use of autophagy is not well defined. Here we report that active use of autophagy is evident only in DC subtypes specialized in cross-presentation. However, the contribution of autophagy to cross-presentation varied depending on the form of antigen: it was negligible in the case of cell-associated antigen or antigen delivered via receptor-mediated endocytosis, but more prominent when the antigen was a soluble protein. These findings highlight the differential use of autophagy and its machinery by primary cells equipped with specific immune function, and prompt careful reassessment of the participation of this endocytic pathway in antigen cross-presentation.