[Inflammatory dendritic cells]

Dendritic cells are a rare and heterogeneous population of professional antigen-presenting cells. Several murine dendritic cell subpopulations have been identified that differ in their phenotype and functional properties. In the steady state, committed dendritic cell precursors differentiate into lymphoid organ-resident dendritic cells and migratory tissue dendritic cells. During inflammation appears an additional dendritic cell subpopulation that has been termed « inflammatory dendritic cells ». Inflammatory dendritic cells differentiate in situ from monocytes recruited to the site of inflammation. Here, we discuss how mouse inflammatory dendritic cells differ from macrophages and from other dendritic cell populations. Finally, we review recent work on human inflammatory dendritic cells.