Crosstalk between dendritic cell subsets and implications for dendritic cell-based anticancer immunotherapy

Dendritic cells (DCs) are a family of professional antigen-presenting cells that have an indispensable role in the initiation of innate and adaptive immune responses against pathogens and tumor cells. The DC family is very heterogeneous. Two main types of naturally occurring DCs circulate in peripheral blood, each with its unique phenotypic and functional characteristics: myeloid DCs and plasmacytoid. There is an ample number of studies that have focused on the bi-directional crosstalk between DCs and natural killer cells or T cells. However, the crosstalk among the different DC subsets, in the context of infectious diseases and cancer, has until now not received much attention. Here, we review all available literature that has dealt with the crosstalk between plasmacytoid and myeloid DCs and the potential mode of action. Emphasis will be given to the therapeutic potential of the combination of DC subsets for DC-based immunotherapy.