Michael Meister, Amel Tounsi, Evelyn Gaffal, Tobias Bald, Maria Papatriantafyllou, Julia Ludwig, Georg Pougialis, Felix Bestvater, Luisa Klotz, Gerhard Moldenhauer, Thomas Tüting, Günter J Hämmerling, Bernd Arnold, Thilo Oelert
Keratinocytes have a pivotal role in the regulation of immune responses, but the impact of antigen presentation by these cells is still poorly understood, particularly in a situation where the antigen will be presented only in adult life. Here, we generated a transgenic mouse model in which keratinocytes exclusively present a myelin basic protein (MBP) peptide covalently linked to the major histocompatibility complex class II β-chain, solely under inflammatory conditions. In these mice, inflammation caused by epicutaneous contact sensitizer treatment resulted in keratinocyte-mediated expansion of MBP-specific CD4(+) T cells in the skin...
August 2015: Journal of Investigative Dermatology