Identification and characterization of murine glycoprotein 2‐expressing intestinal dendritic cells

The intestinal lamina propria (LP) contains distinct subsets of classical dendritic cells (cDC), each playing key non-redundant roles in intestinal immune homeostasis. Here, we show that glycoprotein 2 (GP2), a GPI-anchored protein and receptor for bacterial type-I fimbriae, is selectively expressed by CD103(+)CD11b(+) cDC in the murine small intestine (SI). GP2 expression was induced on CD103(+)CD11b(+) cDC within the SI-LP and was regulated by IRF4, TGF beta R1- and retinoic acid signalling. Mice selectively lacking Gp2 on CD103(+)CD11b(+) cDC (huLang-Cre.gp2(fl/fl) mice) had normal numbers and proportions of innate and adaptive immune cells in the SI-LP suggesting that GP2 expression by CD103(+)CD11b(+) cDC is not required for intestinal immune homoeostasis.