In summary, although pDCs were initially characterized as professional IFN-I-producing cells upon in vitro stimulation with viruses or during viral infections in vivo, they also bear a significant contribution to the production of many other soluble factors under the same experimental settings. Thus, beyond their direct contribution to antiviral innate activities through IFN-I production, pDCs are very likely to play a critical role in the initiation and global orchestration of the recruitment and activation of other innate immune cells (Scheme 1).