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Archive > Volume 33 Issue 3 > 2026,33(3):225-232. DOI:10.3872/j.issn.1007-385X.2026.03.001 Prev Next
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Dendritic cell subpopulations in the tumor microenvironment: biological behaviors and targeted therapeutic strategies
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Abstract:
[Abstract] Dendritic cells (DCs), as the core initiators and regulators of anti-tumor immune responses, have emerged as important targets in tumor immunotherapy. Immunotherapeutic strategies targeting DCs, such as DC vaccines, have shown unique advantages in anti-tumor treatment. However, several challenges remain, including insufficient antigen presentation efficiency, resistance from the immunosuppressive microenvironment, and difficulties in achieving specific functional modulation. DCs in the tumor microenvironment (TME) exhibit high heterogeneity, and different DC subpopulations show complex diversity in differentiation and development, immune regulation, and effector outcomes. Elucidating the precise phenotypes and functional mechanisms of DC subpopulations is therefore crucial for developing novel DC-targeted immunotherapeutic strategies. In the TME, recruited conventional DCs, plasmacytoid DCs, and monocyte-derived DCs can interact with tumor-infiltrating immune cells and non-immune cells within the TME (including tumor cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, etc.) to activate anti-tumor immune responses. However, the TME can suppress DC recruitment and antigen-presenting capabilities through various means, including transcriptional regulation, epigenetic regulation, and metabolic reprogramming, and may even induce their transformation into tolerogenic DCs. Notably, newly discovered mature DCs enriched with immunoregulatory molecules exhibit bidirectional immunoregulatory functions, yet their origins and immune regulatory networks require in-depth research. With the development of single-cell technology and spatial omics, researchers can systematically analyze the functional diversity of DC subpopulations and their spatiotemporal interactions with the TME at single-cell resolution. These approaches are expected to provide new targets and insights for the development of next-generation precision immunotherapeutic strategies.[Key words] tumor microenvironment; dendritic cell subset; tumor; immunotherapy; immune checkpoint blockade therapy; cell-cell communication
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