Zbtb46 expression distinguishes classical dendritic cells and their committed progenitors from other immune lineages

Distinguishing dendritic cells (DCs) from other cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system is complicated by the shared expression of cell surface markers such as CD11c. In this study, we identified Zbtb46 (BTBD4) as a transcription factor selectively expressed by classical DCs (cDCs) and their committed progenitors but not by plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), monocytes, macrophages, or other lymphoid or myeloid lineages. Using homologous recombination, we replaced the first coding exon of Zbtb46 with GFP to inactivate the locus while allowing detection of Zbtb46 expression. GFP expression in Zbtb46gfp/+ mice recapitulated the cDC-specific expression of the native locus, being restricted to cDC precursors (pre-cDCs) and…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Defense

  Award: W81XWH
• HH
  Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• AH
  American Heart Association
• WU
  Washington University in St. Louis
• AJ
  Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center
• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: W81XWH