A New Subset of CD103⁺CD8α⁺ Dendritic Cells in the Small Intestine Expresses TLR3, TLR7, and TLR9 and Induces Th1 Response and CTL Activity

Abstract CD103+ dendritic cells (DCs) are the major conventional DC population in the intestinal lamina propria (LP). Our previous report showed that a small number of cells in the LP could be classified into four subsets based on the difference in CD11c/CD11b expression patterns: CD11chiCD11blo DCs, CD11chiCD11bhi DCs, CD11cintCD11bint macrophages, and CD11cintCD11bhi eosinophils. The CD11chiCD11bhi DCs, which are CD103+, specifically express TLR5 and induce the differentiation of naive B cells into IgA+ plasma cells. These DCs also mediate the differentiation of Ag-specific Th17 and Th1 cells in response to flagellin. We found that small intestine CD103+ DCs of the LP (LPDCs) could be divided into a small subset of CD8α+ cells and a larger subset of CD8α− cells. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that CD103+CD8α+ and CD103+CD8α− LPDCs were equivalent to CD11chiCD11blo and CD11chiCD11bhi subsets, respectively. We analyzed a novel subset of CD8α+ LPDCs to elucidate their immunological function. CD103+CD8α+ LPDCs expressed TLR3, TLR7, and TLR9 and produced IL-6 and IL-12p40, but not TNF-α, IL-10, or IL-23, following TLR ligand stimulation. CD103+CD8α+ LPDCs did not express the gene encoding retinoic acid-converting enzyme Raldh2 and were not involved in T cell-independent IgA synthesis or Foxp3+ regulatory T cell induction. Furthermore, CD103+CD8α+ LPDCs induced Ag-specific IgG in serum, a Th1 response, and CTL activity in vivo. Accordingly, CD103+CD8α+ LPDCs exhibit a different function from CD103+CD8α− LPDCs in active immunity. This is the first analysis, to our knowledge, of CD8α+ DCs in the LP of the small intestine.