Presence of Langerhans cells in the cornea of Klebsiella keratoconjunctivitis mice.
Frozen sections of normal Balb/c corneas and corneas from Balb/c mice with Klebsiella keratoconjunctivitis were examined for the expression of class I, class II H-2 antigens and MAC-1 antigens using monoclonal antibodies in an immunoperoxidase technique. Class I antigens were readily detected, in both normal and diseased corneas, mainly in the epithelium. Class II (Ia) and MAC-1 antigens were not detected in the normal corneas. However, these two antigens were found mainly in the epithelium and to a lesser extent in the stroma of corneas from keratoconjunctivitis mice. Both normal and diseased corneas were furthermore shown to be peroxidase-. Since Langerhans cells (LC) are Ia+, MAC-1+, and peroxidase- cells, we conclude that although the normal mouse cornea is devoid of these cells, under bacterial infection LC infiltrate the corneal epithelium.
García-Olivares
E
E
Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Granada, Spain.
Carreras
B
B
Gallardo
J M
JM
D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology*; D007637:Keratoconjunctivitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D007710:Klebsiella Infections; D007801:Langerhans Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C
D000941:Antigens