The thymic microenvironment gradually modulates the phenotype of thymus-homing peripheral conventional dendritic cells.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Thymic conventional dendritic cells (t-DCs) are crucial for the development of T cells. A substantial fraction of t-DCs originates extrathymically and migrates to the thymus. Here, these cells contribute to key processes of central tolerance like the clonal deletion of self-reactive thymocytes and the generation of regulatory T (Treg) cells. So far, it is only incompletely understood which impact the thymic microenvironment has on thymus-homing conventional DCs (cDCs), which phenotypic changes occur after the entry of peripheral cDCs into the thymus and which functional properties these modulated cells acquire.

MATERIALS & METHODS: In the present study, we mimicked the thymus-homing of peripheral cDCs by introducing ex vivo isolated splenic cDCs (sp-DCs) into reaggregated thymic organ cultures (RTOCs).

RESULTS: Already after two days of culture, the transcriptomic profile of sp-DCs was modulated and had acquired certain key signatures of t-DCs. The regulated genes included immunomodulatory cytokines and chemokines as well as costimulatory molecules. After four days of culture, sp-DCs appeared to have at least partially acquired the peculiar Treg cell-inducing capacity characteristic of t-DCs.

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: Taken together, our findings indicate that peripheral cDCs possess a high degree of plasticity enabling them to quickly adapt to the thymus-specific microenvironment. We further provide indirect evidence that thymus-specific properties such as the efficient induction of Treg cells under homeostatic conditions can be partially transferred to thymus-homing peripheral cDC subsets.