C/EBP? is required for development of dendritic cell progenitors.

ABSTRACT: Dendritic cells (DCs) are master regulators of the immune system, but molecular regulation of early DC differentiation has been poorly understood. Here, we report that the transcription factor C/EBP? coordinates the development of progenitor cells required for production of multiple categories of DCs. C/EBP? was needed for differentiation from stem/progenitor cells to common DC progenitors (CDPs), but not for transition of CDP to mature DCs. C/EBP? deletion in mature DCs did not affect their numbers or function, suggesting that this transcription factor is not needed for maintenance of DCs in lymphoid tissues. ChIP-seq and microarrays were used to identify candidate genes regulated by C/EBP? and required for DC formation. Genes previously shown to be critical for DC formation were bound by C/EBP?, and their expression was decreased in the earliest hematopoietic compartments in the absence of C/EBP?. These data indicate that C/EBP? is important for the earliest stages of steady-state DC differentiation.

SUBMITTER: Welner RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3656447 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature