Self-renewal capacity of human epidermal Langerhans cells: observations made on a composite tissue allograft.
Epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) are dendritic, antigen-presenting cells residing within mammalian epidermis and mucosal epithelia. When massively depleted, they are replaced by cells of bone-marrow origin. However, their renewal within normal skin under steady-state conditions is not precisely known. We observed that epidermal LC within a human hand allograft remain stable in the long term (10 years) and are not replaced by cells of recipient's origin; furthermore, we observed a Langerhans cell in mitosis within the epidermis 8 years postgraft. These results show that under almost physiological conditions, human LC renew in the epidermis by local mitoses of preexisting cells.
Kanitakis
Jean
J
Morelon
Emmanuel
E
Petruzzo
Palmina
P
Badet
Lionel
L
Dubernard
Jean-Michel
JM
D001684:Biological Dressings; D001706:Biopsy; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004817:Epidermis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D059871:HLA-A24 Antigen; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D007801:Langerhans Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D059871:HLA-A24 Antigen