Generating and Expanding Conventional Type 1 Dendritic Cells

Conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) are specialized antigen-presenting cells that play essential roles in cross-presentation, immunity to intracellular pathogens, and antitumor immune responses. Their low abundance and limited accessibility in blood and many tissues have driven extensive efforts to generate and expand cDC1s for mechanistic and translational studies. Over the past two decades, advances in cDC1 biology have transformed the field from heterogeneous bone marrow-derived cultures to increasingly sophisticated platforms that generate, enrich, or expand bona fide cDC1s, alongside approaches whose products remain best described as cDC1-like. Here, we review cytokine-driven cultures, Notch ligand-supported systems, human CD34⁺ progenitor and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived platforms, transcription factor-based programming, and endogenous cDC1 expansion. We distinguish bona fide cDC1s, cDC1-enriched cultures, and cDC1-like cells and compare these approaches by lineage validation, enrichment, yield, culture duration, function, scalability, and translational maturity. Together, these platforms provide complementary tools for cDC1 research and therapeutic development.