Extended Data Figure 9: DDCs are found in close apposition to Na_v1.8⁺ nociceptors and characterization of RTX-treated and Na_v1.8-DTA mice.

a, Representative confocal micrographs of CD11c–YFP mice stained for β3-tubulin, Lyve-1 (lymphatics) and CD31 (blood and lymphatic endothelial cells). b, Three-dimensional quantification of DDC proximity to peripheral nerves in naive and 6 h post-IMQ treatment ears binned into contact (<0 µm), proximal (0–7 µm) and distal (>7 µm) fractions as explained in Methods (n of dendritic cells = 200). c, Total RNA from dorsal root ganglia (C1–C4) of littermate control and Na_v1.8-DTA mice was isolated and levels of mRNA for Trpv1 (TRPV1), Scn10a (Na_v1.8), Tac1 (substance P) and Trpa1 (TRPA1) were determined relative to Gapdh. This demonstrates the efficacy of the Na_v1.8-DTA system and combined with the original reference characterizing the pain phenotype of these mice illustrates that a subset of peptidergic TRPV1⁺ nerve fibres is spared. d, Representative confocal micrograph of whole-mount ear skin of vehicle- and RTX-treated mice showing preserved nerve scaffold. e, Representative confocal micrographs of whole-mount ear skin of control and Na_v1.8-DTA mice showing preserved nerve scaffold. Although dorsal root ganglia showed a loss of the hallmark ion channels of these nerve subsets (Extended Data Figs 1c, 9c), surprisingly we still observed that RTX mice and Na_v1.8-DTA mice maintain a meshwork of nerves in the skin.