Abstract
THE outermost covering of the body, the epidermis, is a thin epithelial sheath comprising three distinct cell types, keratinocytes, melanocytes and Langerhans cells. The physicochemical and photo-protective role of the first two is well known, but the function of the third is still unknown, over a hundred years since its discovery1. The Langerhans cell was reported earlier as having a sensory role, or as being an effete form of the dendritic malanocyte below it2, but it occurs in the dermis3 and is mesenchymal, rather than neuroectodermal, in origin. Its fine structure reveals no melanin, but distinctive racquet-shaped granules. It has also been proposed that it is a macrophage4 or that it may be involved in keratinisation, but recent evidence has suggested an immune function for the Langerhans cell in the development of contact dermatitis5,6. To investigate this possibility, we have exposed separated epidermal sheets to metals, aldehydes and amines known to act as contact antigens, and have observed their distribution histologically. We report here the selective uptake of antigens causing allergic contact dermatitis by Langerhans cells of the epidermis in guinea pigs and man.
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SHELLEY, W., JUHLIN, L. Langerhans cells form a reticuloepithelial trap for external contact antigens. Nature 261, 46–47 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/261046a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/261046a0
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