Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells that play a key role in the immune system. Under steady state conditions immature DCs promote tolerance and induction of regulatory cells. Upon pathogen recognition through specific patter recognition receptors (PRR), DCs undergo maturation and initiate the adaptive immune response by priming T cells. DCs dictate the type of adaptive response towards a particular pathogen by secreting different type of cytokines, maintaining an appropriate inflammatory milieu and recruiting specialized effector cells. Such a complex and coordinated response requires DC subset specialization, which is obtained through lineage as well as functional specificity controlled by complex transcriptional networks. It is therefore essential to understand the transcriptional regulation of existing subsets through the characterization of their developmental cues, as well as identify the transcriptional signature required for the functional properties of specific subsets.