A unique dermal dendritic cell subset that skews the immune response toward Th2

Dendritic cell (DC) subsets in the skin and draining lymph nodes (LNs) are likely to elicit distinct immune response types. In skin and skin-draining LNs, a dermal DC subset expressing macrophage galactose-type C-type lectin 2 (MGL2/CD301b) was found distinct from migratory Langerhans cells (LCs) or CD103(+) dermal DCs (dDCs). Lower expression levels of Th1-promoting and/or cross-presentation-related molecules were suggested by the transcriptome analysis and verified by the quantitative real-time PCR analysis in MGL2(+) dDCs than in CD103(+) dDCs. Transfer of MGL2(+) dDCs but not CD103(+) dDCs from FITC-sensitized mice induced a Th2-type immune response in vivo in a model of contact hypersensitivity. Targeting MGL2(+) dDCs with a rat monoclonal antibody against MGL2 efficiently induced a humoral immune response with Th2-type properties, as determined by the antibody subclass. We propose that the properties of MGL2(+) dDCs, are complementary to those of CD103(+) dDCs and skew the immune response toward a Th2-type response.