title: Ultraviolet B radiation induces a transient appearance of IL-4+ neutrophils, which support the development of Th2 responses.
abstract: UVB irradiation can cause considerable changes in the composition of cells in the skin and in cutaneous cytokine levels. We found that a single exposure of normal human skin to UVB induced an infiltration of numerous IL-4(+) cells. This recruitment was detectable in the papillary dermis already 5 h after irradiation, reaching a peak at 24 h and declining gradually thereafter. The IL-4(+) cells appeared in the epidermis at 24 h postradiation and reached a plateau at days 2 and 3. The number of IL-4(+) cells was markedly decreased in both dermis and epidermis at day 4, and at later time points, the IL-4 expression was absent. The IL-4(+) cells did not coexpress CD3 (T cells), tryptase (mast cells), CD56 (NK cells), and CD36 (macrophages). They did coexpress CD15 and CD11b, showed a clear association with elastase, and had a multilobed nucleus, indicating that UVB-induced infiltrating IL-4(+) cells are neutrophils. Blister fluid from irradiated skin, but not from control skin, contained IL-4 protein as well as increased levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha. In contrast to control cultures derived from nonirradiated skin, a predominant type 2 T cell response was detected in T cells present in primary dermal cell cultures derived from UVB-exposed skin. This type 2 shift was abolished when CD15(+) cells (i.e., neutrophils) were depleted from the dermal cell suspension before culturing, suggesting that neutrophils favor type 2 T cell responses in UVB-exposed skin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.b.teunissen@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Marcel B M
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Teunissen
authors.forename: Gamze
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piskin
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: di Nuzzo
authors.forename: Regien M R
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Sylva-Steenland
authors.forename: Menno A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Rie
authors.forename: Jan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Bos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001768:Blister / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D020405:Dermis / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000528:radiation effects; D016256:Lewis X Antigen / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020556:Neutrophil Infiltration / Q000276:immunology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013997:Time Factors; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D016256:Lewis X Antigen; D015847:Interleukin-4