Inflammation in human skin: a model to study chemokine-mediated leukocyte migration in vivo

The structure of the skin, with the preferential unidirectional migration of inflammatory cells from blood vessels to the dermis and eventually to the epidermis, its accessibility for biopsies and local manipulations, and the clear definition of various inflammatory disorders, makes it an ideal in vivo model organ to study mechanisms of leukocyte recruitment during inflammation. A report in this issue of the Journal studied selected inflammatory skin disorders with different well-characterized inflammatory profiles to study the important role of the T-cell-attractant chemokines Mig (CXCL9) and IP-10 (CXCL10). These chemokines are highly expressed and participate in the recruitment of CXC receptor 3 (CXCR3)+ effector T-cells and their migration to the site of inflammatory challenge. This indicates that the chemokines Mig and IP-10 are important mediators for T-cell dominated inflammatory reactions in the skin.