摘要

The interaction between tumor cells and the immune system is considered to be a dynamic process. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a pivotal role in anti-tumor immunity owing to their outstanding T cell activation ability. Their functions and activities are broad ranged, triggering different mechanisms and responses to the DC subset. Several studies identified in situ human tumor-infiltrating DCs by immunostaining using a limited number of markers. However, considering the heterogeneity of DC subsets, the identification of each subtype present in the immune infiltrate is essential. To achieve this, studies initially relied on flow cytometry analyses to provide a precise characterization of tumor-associated DC subsets based on a combination of multiple markers. The concomitant development of advanced technologies, such as mass cytometry or complete transcriptome sequencing of a cell population or at a single cell level, has provided further details on previously identified populations, has unveiled previously unknown populations, and has finally led to the standardization of the DCs classification across tissues and species. Here, we review the evolution of tumor-associated DC description, from in situ visualization to their characterization with high-dimensional technologies, and the clinical use of these findings specifically focusing on the prognostic impact of DCs in cancers.

译文

肿瘤细胞和免疫系统之间的相互作用被认为是一个动态过程。树突状细胞（DC）由于其突出的T细胞活化能力而在抗肿瘤免疫中起关键作用。它们的功能和活动范围很广，触发了不同的机制和对DC子集的响应。一些研究使用有限数量的标记物通过免疫染色鉴定了原位人肿瘤浸润性DC。然而，考虑到DC亚群的异质性，免疫浸润中存在的每种亚型的鉴定是必需的。为了实现这一目标，研究最初依赖于流式细胞术分析，以基于多种标记的组合提供肿瘤相关DC亚群的精确表征。先前技术的相应发展，例如质量细胞计数或细胞群的完整转录组测序或单细胞水平，已经提供了关于先前鉴定的群体的进一步细节，揭示了先前未知的群体，并且最终导致了标准化。跨组织和物种的DC分类。在这里，我们回顾肿瘤相关DC描述的演变，从原位可视化到高维技术的表征，以及这些发现的临床应用，特别关注DC在癌症中的预后影响。