Figure 2.

The roles of tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells (DCs) in tumor development and anti-PD-1 immunotherapy as revealed by scRNA-seq. (A) DCs in the tumor environment could be modified to repress the anti-tumoral immunity and promote cancer development in different ways. cDCs expressing the SOCS2-centralized gene program could facilitate tumor immune surveillance (114). Clusters of IDO1⁺ cDCs and LAMP3⁺ cDCs are reported to repress the proliferation and function of effector T cells (115, 116). DCs could also be restrained by regulatory T cells (117). (B) cDC1s take in the tumor antigens and activate effector CD8⁺ T cells (TC). cDC2s activate the CD4⁺ TCs and secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines to promote anti-tumoral immunity. (C) The crosstalk between cDC1s and CD8⁺ TCs through chemokines and cytokines is pivotal in response to effective anti-PD-1 immunotherapy.