Single cell RNA-sequencing revealed that CD4+ T-cell help optimizes cDC1 in many functions that support antigen cross-presentation and CTL priming. The transcriptomic cDC1 'help' signature was linked to the patient situation by examining bioinformatic datasets. "We robustly identified 'helped' cDC1 in the micro-environment of a multitude of human cancer types. As predicted from the functional effects of CD4+ T-cell help, the transcriptomic signature of 'helped' cDC1 correlates with tumor infiltration by CTLs and T-helper cells, overall survival and response to PD-1- targeting immunotherapy” explains Xin Lei (in picture in the middle), who was highly involved in this research project.
Read the entire article in Nature communications.