26MerTK is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) mainly expressed in dendritic 27 cells (DCs) and macrophages where it plays an important role in immunotolerance, but 28 also in activating oncogenic signalling pathways. Albeit MerTK is exploited as clinical 29 target in cancer and auto-immune disorders, the mechanisms that regulate its diverse 30 functions are poorly understood. Here, we identified a remarkably high pool of the full 31 receptor in the nucleus of human DCs. Nuclear translocation was ligand-dependent. 32 Importantly, MerTK nuclear levels correlated to DC differentiation and were 33 spatiotemporally regulated by the transmembrane receptor LRP-1. Using dual-colour 34 super-resolution nanoscopy we discovered that nuclear MerTK forms nanoclusters, 35 whose strength strongly depends on chromatin accessibility during DC differentiation. 36We finally revealed high transcription capacity of MerTK. Overall, our work indicates 37 that nuclear MerTK acts as a transcription factor regulating DC differentiation, thus 38 implicating for the first time a physiological function for RTK nuclear translocation in 39 immunity. 40 to chromatin and it is capable to induce transcription. As a whole, our results indicate that 91 aside from its well-established role on the cell membrane, the residence of MerTK in the 92 nucleus constitutes a physiological relevant mechanism for dendritic cells, functioning as 93 a potential genomic regulator during DC differentiation. Given the involvement of 94 MerTK in both auto-immunity and cancer, our results might have impact on the broad 95 implementation of MerTK for clinical therapy purposes. 96 97