Langerhans cells: an update

Langerhans cells belong to the family of dendritic cells, professional antigen-presenting cells, and populate the skin and epithelia of mammals. It was the extensive investigation of this particular dendritic cell subpopulation in earlier days, which contributed crucially to the current understanding of the regulation of antigen processing and presentation, a concept, which was termed "the Langerhans cell paradigm". Extensive research during the last decades has revealed that Langerhans cells might not only be involved in the induction of adaptive immune responses but also in the maintenance of peripheral tolerance in order to prevent auto-immunity. In addition it appeared that Langerhans cells represent a rather extravagant dendritic cell population with a unique origin and homeostatic regulation. This review highlights the most important findings about Langerhans cell ontogeny and homeostasis as well as their function in the immune system.