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Lymphocyte Isolation from Human Skin for Phenotypic Analysis and Ex Vivo Cell Culture

Published on: April 8, 2016

Acute ablation of Langerhans cells enhances skin immune responses

Aleh Bobr1, Irlanda Olvera-Gomez, Botond Z Igyarto

  • 1Department of Dermatology, Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.

Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
|September 22, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Langerhans cells (LCs) actively suppress immune responses, specifically contact hypersensitivity (CHS). Inducible LC removal in mice enhances CHS, confirming their suppressive role.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Dendritic Cell Biology
  • Skin Immunity

Background:

  • Conflicting results from Langerhans cell (LC)-deficient mice complicate understanding their in vivo function.
  • Constitutive LC absence in human Langerin-DTA mice leads to exaggerated contact hypersensitivity (CHS).
  • Inducible LC and dermal dendritic cell (dDC) ablation in murine Langerin-DTR mice reduces CHS.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To clarify the role of Langerhans cells (LCs) in contact hypersensitivity (CHS).
  • To investigate whether inducible versus constitutive LC ablation explains conflicting experimental results.
  • To determine if LCs actively suppress Ag-specific CHS responses.

Main Methods:

  • Engineered human Langerin-DTR mice for inducible LC ablation without affecting Langerin(+) dDCs.
  • Administered diphtheria toxin to selectively eliminate LCs.
  • Assessed contact hypersensitivity (CHS) responses in engineered mice.

Main Results:

  • Inducible ablation of LCs in human Langerin-DTR mice resulted in increased CHS.
  • LC-mediated suppression was observed without requiring LC absence during ontogeny or steady-state.
  • Results support a model where LCs actively suppress Ag-specific CHS responses.

Conclusions:

  • Langerhans cells (LCs) play an active suppressive role in Ag-specific contact hypersensitivity (CHS).
  • The suppressive function of LCs is independent of their ontogeny or steady-state presence.
  • Inducible ablation models are crucial for dissecting the specific functions of immune cells like LCs.

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