Differentially expressed microRNAs regulate plasmacytoid vs conventional dendritic cell development

microRNAs have emerged as a novel layer of regulation of cellular development and function including cells of the immune system microRNA expression profiles and function of several microRNAs have been elucidated in granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor derived dendritic cells (GM-CSF DC) In this study we determined the microRNA expression profile from plasmacytoid DC (pDC) and conventional DC (cDC) generated in murine FMS-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (Flt3L) bone marrow culture We observed distinct miRNA expression signatures in these two different DC subsets and found that pDC were closer related to CD4(+) T cells than to cDC Expression of a selected subset of microRNAs was also compared between cDC and GM-CSF DC Furthermore we show that inhibition of two differentially expressed microRNAs miR-221 and miR-222 during differentiation resulted in skewed pDC/cDC ratios Among the confirmed or potential targets for miR-221 and miR-222 are c-Kit p27(kip1) and E2-2 While c-Kit is expressed by DC progenitors and p27(kip1) is a cell cycle regulator E2-2 does transcriptionally regulate pDC development Our data demonstrate that microRNAs tan influence Flt3-driven DC differentiation (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved