Absent in peripheral tissues during homeostasis, human plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are described in inflamed skin or mucosa. Here, we report that, unlike blood pDCs, a subset of tonsil pDCs express functional CCR6 and CCR10, and their respective ligands CCL20 and CCL27are detected in inflamed epithelia contacting blood dendritic cell antigen 2 Ű pDCs. Moreover, pDCs are recruited to imiquimod-treated skin tumors in WT but not CCR6-deficient mice, and competitive adoptive transfers reveal that CCR6-deficient pDCs are impaired in homing to inflamed skin tumors after intravenous transfer. On IL-3 culture, CCR6 and CCR10 expression is induced on human blood pDCs that become responsive to CCL20 and CCL27/ CCL28, respectively. Interestingly, unlike myeloid DC, blood pDCs initially upregulate CCR7 expression and CCL19 responsiveness on IL-3 Ű CpG-B and then acquire functional CCR6 and CCR10. Finally, IL-3-differentiated CCR6 Ű CCR10 Ű pDCs secrete high levels of IFN-⣠in response to virus. Overall, we propose an unexpected pDCs migratory model that may best apply for mucosal-associated lymphoid tissues. After CCR7-mediated extravasation into lymphoid tissues draining inflamed epithelia, blood pDCs may be instructed to up-regulate CCR6 and/or CCR10 allowing their homing into inflamed epithelia (in mucosae or skin
IntroductionPlasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play an important role in innate antiviral immunity by rapidly secreting abundant type I IFNs after exposure to various RNA or DNA viruses. 1 This unique ability is mediated through their selective expression of TLR7 and TLR9, 2 involved in pathogen sensing. After activation, pDCs differentiate into a distinct type of mature DCs directing T-cell responses with high flexibility. 1 Thus, pDCs play a critical role at the interface between innate and adaptive immunity.pDCs are commonly detected in peripheral blood and lymphoid organs. 1 Unlike myeloid DC (mDCs), they are absent from peripheral epithelial tissues under steady-state conditions, fail to migrate in response to inflammatory chemokines in vitro, and are constitutively recruited from the blood to the lymph nodes through high endothelial venule, a process involving CD62L, CCR7, ChemR23, and CXCR3/4. 3-10 On maturation, both DC subsets up-regulate CCR7 expression and respond to the lymph nodehoming chemokines CCL19 and CCL21, 5,7,8 allowing their recruitment in T-cell areas where they initiate adaptive immune responses. It was recently shown in mice that CCR7 plays an essential role for the homing of pDCs, regardless of their activation status, to lymph node under both steady-state and inflammatory conditions. 10However, pDCs also accumulate in inflamed epithelial tissues during noninfectious and infectious disorders 9,11-18 and participate in inflammatory chronic diseases, such as psoriasis and systemic lupus erythematosus. 14,19,20 Moreover, pDC leukemia/lymphoma is often associated with isolated cutaneous lesions because of skin accumulation of leukemic pDCs. 21 Inducible CXCR3 ligands (CXCL9/10/11...