Fig. 4: DC subset metabolism is linked with their function and influences the clinical outcome of patients.

PBMC from HDs and melanoma patients as well as CD45⁺ tumor-infiltrating cells from patients were stimulated with a mixture of TLR-L (Stim). The metabolism of DCs was depicted by flow cytometry using the SCENITH method, and the cytokine/chemokine production was analyzed in supernatants using Luminex. A Correlation matrix between the metabolic parameters of DC subsets and their cytokine/chemokine production (n = 13 HD blood, n = 11 patient blood, n = 11 patient tumor). Stars (*) indicate significant correlations (Spearman correlation with Bonferonni corrections for multiple comparisons). B Comparative PFS (from sampling time) and OS (from sampling or diagnosis time) of patients displaying circulating pDCs with a high or low global metabolism, a high or low glucose dependency, or a high or low mitochondrial dependency (5–6 patients per group). Groups were separated using the median of the corresponding parameter for circulating pDCs (MFI of puromycin [224738], glucose dependency [15.56%], and mitochondrial dependency [27.31%], respectively). C Comparative OS (from sampling time) of patients displaying a high or low global metabolism of tumor-infiltrating cDC1s (5–6 patients per group) or pDCs (6–7 patients per group). Groups were separated using the median of the corresponding parameter for tumor-infiltrating cDC1s (MFI of puromycin, 222428), and pDCs (MFI of puromycin, 195625). Comparisons performed using Log-Rank test. *P ≤ 0.05. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.