AUTHOR=Guilliams Martin , van de Laar Lianne TITLE=A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Myeloid Cell Subsets: Practical Implementation of a Novel Mononuclear Phagocyte Classification System JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=6 YEAR=2015 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2015.00406 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2015.00406 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

The classification of mononuclear phagocytes as either dendritic cells or macrophages has been mainly based on morphology, the expression of surface markers, and assumed functional specialization. We have recently proposed a novel classification system of mononuclear phagocytes based on their ontogeny. Here, we discuss the practical application of such a classification system through a number of prototypical examples we have encountered while hitchhiking from one subset to another, across species and between steady-state and inflammatory settings. Finally, we discuss the advantages and drawbacks of such a classification system and propose a number of improvements to move from theoretical concepts to concrete guidelines.