Understanding the crosstalk among Langerhans cells and dendritic epidermal T cells

Abstract

Skin, as the largest body surface exposed to environment, has to protect body from chemical and physical insult, and especially pathogen invasion. In order to avoid any pathogen breaches, the skin has a sophisticated immune system mainly consisting of Langerhans cells (LC) and dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC). The communication between these cells remains elusive. Therefore, we studied more in depth whether DETC is able mediate LC maturation, and the molecules involved in this communication. We found that LC maturation was mediated by activated DETC. Moreover, GM-CSF was observed to be involved in the DETC-mediated LC maturation. Our results also indicated that there might be other molecules involved as well. Further study is required to delineate the communication between LC and DETC more in details and the molecules involved in the communication.