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Updated: Mar 19, 2026
Characterization of Human Monocyte-derived Dendritic Cells by Imaging Flow Cytometry: A Comparison between Two Monocyte Isolation Protocols
Published on: October 18, 2016
CD1c-Expression by Monocytes - Implications for the Use of Commercial CD1c+ Dendritic Cell Isolation Kits
Martine Schrøder1,2, Guro Reinholt Melum1, Ole J B Landsverk1,2
1Department of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Insights
Commercial kits designed to isolate CD1c+ dendritic cells (DCs) also isolate monocytes. These two cell types, CD1c+ DCs and CD1c+ monocytes, exhibit distinct immune functions, impacting prior research using these isolation kits.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) are key regulators of immune responses.
- CD1c+ cDCs are known for their ability to activate naive CD4+ T cells.
- CD1c is widely used to identify human CD1c+ cDCs in blood and tissues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specificity of CD1c as a marker for human dendritic cells.
- To determine if other immune cells express CD1c.
- To evaluate the functional differences between CD1c+ cDCs and other CD1c-expressing cells.
Main Methods:
- Flow cytometry analysis of human blood samples.
- Isolation of cell populations using a commercial CD1c (BDCA-1)+ Dendritic Cell Isolation Kit.
- Comparative analysis of surface marker expression, cytokine production, and T cell activation capabilities.
Main Results:
- Both conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) and classical/intermediate monocytes express CD1c.
- The commercial CD1c (BDCA-1)+ Dendritic Cell Isolation Kit isolates two distinct populations: CD1c+CD14- cDCs and CD1c+CD14+ monocytes.
- CD1c+ cDCs and CD1c+ monocytes display significantly different surface marker expression, cytokine profiles, and T cell stimulatory capacities.
Conclusions:
- CD1c is not exclusively expressed on human cDCs; monocytes also express this marker.
- The commercial CD1c (BDCA-1)+ Dendritic Cell Isolation Kit isolates a mixed population of cDCs and monocytes.
- Previous studies using this kit to characterize CD1c+ cDCs may need re-evaluation due to the co-isolation of monocytes.
Abstract:
Conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) comprise a heterogeneous population of cells that are important regulators of immunity and homeostasis. CD1c+ cDCs are present in human blood and tissues, and found to efficiently activate naïve CD4+ T cells. While CD1c is thought to specifically identify this subset of human cDCs, we show here that also classical and intermediate monocytes express CD1c. Accordingly, the commercial CD1c (BDCA-1)+ Dendritic Cell Isolation Kit isolates two distinct cell populations from blood: CD1c+CD14- cDCs and CD1c+CD14+ monocytes. CD1c+ cDCs and CD1c+ monocytes exhibited strikingly different properties, including their differential regulation of surface marker expression, their levels of cytokine production, and their ability to stimulate naïve CD4+ T cells. These results demonstrate that a commercial CD1c (BDCA-1)+ Dendritic Cell Isolation Kit isolates two functionally different cell populations, which has important implications for the interpretation of previously generated data using this kit to characterize CD1c+ cDCs.
