Skin-derived dendritic cells can mediate deletional tolerance of class I-restricted self-reactive T cells

J Waithman, RS Allan, H Kosaka… - The Journal of …, 2007 - journals.aai.org
J Waithman, RS Allan, H Kosaka, H Azukizawa, K Shortman, MB Lutz, WR Heath
The Journal of Immunology, 2007journals.aai.org
Skin-draining lymph nodes contain a number of dendritic cell (DC) subsets of different
origins. Some of these are migratory, such as the skin-derived epidermal Langerhans cells
and a separate dermal DC subset, whereas others are lymphoid resident in nature, such as
the CD8+ DCs found throughout the lymphoid tissues. In this study, we examine the DC
subset presentation of skin-derived self-Ag by migratory and lymphoid-resident DCs, both in
the steady state and under conditions of local skin infection. We show that presentation of …
Abstract
Skin-draining lymph nodes contain a number of dendritic cell (DC) subsets of different origins. Some of these are migratory, such as the skin-derived epidermal Langerhans cells and a separate dermal DC subset, whereas others are lymphoid resident in nature, such as the CD8+ DCs found throughout the lymphoid tissues. In this study, we examine the DC subset presentation of skin-derived self-Ag by migratory and lymphoid-resident DCs, both in the steady state and under conditions of local skin infection. We show that presentation of self-Ag is confined to skin-derived migrating DCs in both settings. Steady state presentation resulted in deletional T cell tolerance despite these DCs expressing a relatively mature phenotype as measured by traditional markers such as the level of MHC class II and CD86 expression. Thus, self-Ag can be carried to the draining lymph nodes by skin-derived DCs and there presented by these same cells for tolerization of the circulating T cell pool.
journals.aai.org