PHENOTYPIC AND FUNCTIONAL-HETEROGENEITY AMONG MURINE EPIDERMAL-DERIVED DENDRITIC CELL CLONES

We have established recently long-term dendritic cell lines from the e pidermis of newborn BALB/c mice, These lines, termed XS series, resemb led epidermal resident Langerhans cells or their progenitors in terms of surface phenotype, antigen-presenting capacity, and growth factor r equirement, We examined in this study the degree of clonal heterogenei ty among XS cells with respect to each of these features, Twelve stabl e clones were established by limiting dilution microculture from 8-10- week-old cultures of the XS52 or XS20 line, Despite the uniform expres sion of CD45, these clones varied substantially in their expression of Ia, B7-1, and B7-2 molecules. They also varied significantly in their relative efficiency in activating T cells, Finally, remarkable clone- to-clone heterogeneity was also observed in their growth factor respon siveness; some clones responded equally well to granulocyte macrophage -colony-stimulating factor and to colony-stimulating factor-1, whereas others responded preferentially to one or the other of these factors, We propose that the observed clonal heterogeneity in XS cells reflect s possible heterogeneity in the state of maturation and mitotic potent ial among the starting populations, i.e., skin-associated dendritic ce lls in newborn mice.