Metabolomic and lipidomic signatures associated with activation of human cDC1 (BDCA3(+)/CD141(+)) dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) bridge the connection between innate and adaptive immunity. DCs present antigens to T cells and stimulate potent cytotoxic T-cell responses. Metabolic reprogramming is critical for DC development and activation; however, metabolic adaptations and regulation in DC subsets remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we mapped metabolomic and lipidomic signatures associated with the activation phenotype of human conventional DC type 1, a DC subset specialized in cross-presentation and therefore of major importance for the stimulation of CD8(+) T cells. Our metabolomics and lipidomic analyses showed that Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation altered glycerolipids and amino acids in cDC1. Poly I:C or pRNA stimulation reduced triglycerides and cholesterol esters, as well as various amino acids. Moreover, TLR stimulation reduced expression of glycolysis-regulating genes and did not induce glycolysis. Conversely, cDC1 exhibited increased mitochondrial content and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) upon TLR3 or TLR7/8 stimulation. Our findings highlight the metabolic adaptations required for cDC1 maturation.