Structural studies of langerin and Birbeck granule: a macromolecular organization model.

Dendritic cells, a sentinel immunity cell lineage, include different cell subsets that express various C-type lectins. For example, epidermal Langerhans cells express langerin, and some dermal dendritic cells express DC-SIGN. Langerin is a crucial component of Birbeck granules, the Langerhans cell hallmark organelle, and may have a preventive role toward HIV, by its internalization into Birbeck granules.

Immunohistochemical tracking of an immune response in mammary Paget's disease.

Dendritic cells (DC) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells of the organism. They are specialized to capture, process, and present antigen via the MHC class II as well as the MHC class I pathways to CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, respectively. This results in T cell-mediated immune responses that are likely to counteract the generation and propagation of tumors in vivo.

Expression of langerin/CD207 reveals dendritic cell heterogeneity between inbred mouse strains.

Langerin/CD207 is expressed by a subset of dendritic cells (DC), the epithelial Langerhans cells. However, langerin is also detected among lymphoid tissue DC. Here, we describe striking differences in langerin-expressing cells between inbred mouse strains.

Vaginal epithelial dendritic cells renew from bone marrow precursors.

Dendritic cells (DCs) represent key professional antigen-presenting cells capable of initiating primary immune responses. A specialized subset of DCs, the Langerhans cells (LCs), are located in the stratified squamous epithelial layer of the skin and within the mucosal epithelial lining of the vaginal and oral cavities. The vaginal mucosa undergoes cyclic changes under the control of sex hormones, and the renewal characteristics of the vaginal epithelial DCs (VEDCs) remain unknown.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha activation inhibits Langerhans cell function.

Epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) play a pivotal role in initiating and maintaining primary immune responses in the skin. In the present study, we asked whether peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARalpha) activation modulates LC function. Our results show that PPARalpha is expressed in immature LC and is down-regulated in mature LC suggesting that an early decrease of PPARalpha expression in LC may allow them to mature after contact with an Ag.