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Epidermal Langerhans cell migration and sensitisation to chemical allergens
Author(s) -
CUMBERBATCH MARIE,
DEARMAN REBECCA J.,
GRIFFITHS CHRISTOPHER E. M.,
KIMBER IAN
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0463.2003.11107811.x
Subject(s) - immune system , immunology , antigen presentation , langerhans cell , chemokine , epidermis (zoology) , context (archaeology) , antigen , antigen presenting cell , dendritic cell , biology , t cell , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , paleontology
Epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) form part of the wider family of dendritic cells (DC; professional antigen‐processing and antigen‐presenting cells). LC are considered to serve in the skin as sentinels of the adaptive immune system, surveying the local environment and transporting foreign antigen for presentation to responsive T lymphocytes in regional lymph nodes. As such, LC play pivotal roles in the initiation of cutaneous immune responses, including immune responses to chemical allergens encountered at skin surfaces. Here we explore two aspects of LC function in the context of sensitisation to chemical allergens. The first is consideration of the cytokine and chemokine signals that regulate and counter‐regulate the mobilisation and migration of LC from the epidermis to skin‐draining lymph nodes following topical sensitisation. The second is examination of the ways in which LC may influence the polarity of induced T lymphocytes, and thereby the quality of immune responses.