Abstract

Conventional dendritic cells (cDC) are central to maintaining the balance between protective immune responses and tolerance to harmless antigens, especially in the intestine. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate play critical roles in regulating intestinal immunity, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that microbiota-derived butyrate alters intestinal cDC populations in vivo resulting in decreased numbers of the cDC2 lineage. By establishing a novel in vitro culture model, we show that butyrate has a direct and selective ability to repress the development of cDC2 from cDC precursors, an effect that is independent of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and is due to inhibition of histone deacetylase 3. Finally, cDC derived from pre-cDC in the presence of butyrate in vitro express lower levels of costimulatory molecules and have a decreased ability to prime naïve T cells. Together, our data show that butyrate affects the developmental trajectory of cDC, selectively repressing the cDC2 lineage and reducing their ability to stimulate T cells. These properties may help explain the ability of butyrate to maintain homeostasis in the intestine.