Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

The ability of human keratinocytes to present antigen to T cells is controversial and, indeed, it has been suggested that keratinocytes may promote T cell hyporesponsiveness. Furthermore, it is unclear whether keratinocytes can process antigen prior to MHC class I and class II presentation. We tested the ability of keratinocytes to induce functional responses in epitope-specific CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells using peptides, protein and recombinant expression vectors as sources of antigen. Keratinocytes were able to efficiently process and present protein antigen to CD4+ T cells, resulting in cytokine secretion (Th1 and Th2). This interaction was dependent on keratinocyte expression of HLA class II and ICAM-1, which could be induced by IFN-gamma. In addition, keratinocytes could present virally encoded or exogenous peptide to CD8+ T cells, resulting in T cell cytokine production and target cell lysis. Finally, T cell lines grown using keratinocytes as stimulators showed no loss of function. These findings demonstrate that keratinocytes are able to efficiently process and present antigen to CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells and induce functional responses. The findings have broad implications for the pathogenesis of cutaneous disease and for transcutaneous drug or vaccine delivery.

Original publication

DOI

10.1002/eji.200636915

Type

Journal article

Journal

Eur j immunol

Publication Date

06/2007

Volume

37

Pages

1485 - 1493

Keywords

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Antigen Presentation, Antigens, Dermatophagoides, Arthropod Proteins, B-Lymphocytes, B7-1 Antigen, B7-2 Antigen, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Cell Line, Cell Line, Transformed, Cells, Cultured, Cysteine Endopeptidases, Cytotoxicity, Immunologic, HLA-D Antigens, Histocompatibility Antigens Class I, Humans, Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1, Interferon-gamma, Interleukin-4, Keratinocytes, Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1, Oligopeptides, Parvovirus, Phosphoproteins, Receptors, Interferon, Trans-Activators, Viral Proteins