The function of murine dendritic epidermal cells (dEC) remains largely speculative, probably because of the lack of a suitable in vivo model, although previous studies suggest that gamma/delta+ dEC may have originally evolved to serve as a self-protection mechanism(s). Our previous study demonstrated that the epidermis of mice that had spontaneously recovered from cutaneous graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) induced by local injection of CD4+ autoreactive T cells contained unexpectedly large numbers of dEC and became resistant to subsequent attempts to induce GVHD in a site-restricted manner, suggesting that the resistance is mediated by dEC. However, because alpha/beta+ dEC as well as gamma/delta+ dEC were greatly increased in number in the epidermis, it was unclear whether gamma/delta+ dEC are indeed responsible for this protection. The availability of this murine model and mice selectively lacking gamma/delta T cells as a result of disruption of the T cell receptor C delta gene segment allowed us to investigate the role of gamma/delta+ dEC. In the epidermis of gamma/delta T cell-deficient mice (delta-/-), a congenital lack of gamma/delta+ dEC was substituted for by alpha/beta+ dEC of either a CD4-8+ or a CD4-8- phenotype. After intradermal injection of the autoreactive T cells, delta-/- mice developed significantly enhanced delayed-type hypersensitivity responses and cutaneous GVHD, which persisted longer than in heterozygous littermate controls (delta+/-). Surprisingly, resistance to the cutaneous GVHD was not induced in the epidermis of delta-/- mice after spontaneous recovery from the GVHD, whereas the "susceptible" epidermis of delta-/+ mice contained large numbers of alpha/beta dEC comparable to those in "resistant" epidermis of delta+/- mice. Injection of day 16 fetal thymocytes from wild-type mice into delta-/- mice resulted in the appearance of donor-type gamma/delta+ dEC in the epidermis, and reconstitution with gamma/delta+ dEC restored the protective immune response of the epidermis against the GVHD to nearly normal levels. These results indicate that gamma/delta+ dEC are responsible for the site-restricted protection against cutaneous GVHD.
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1 April 1996
Article|
April 01 1996
Resistance to cutaneous graft-vs.-host disease is not induced in T cell receptor delta gene-mutant mice.
T Shiohara,
T Shiohara
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
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N Moriya,
N Moriya
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
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J Hayakawa,
J Hayakawa
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
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S Itohara,
S Itohara
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
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H Ishikawa
H Ishikawa
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
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T Shiohara
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
N Moriya
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
J Hayakawa
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
S Itohara
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
H Ishikawa
Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Online ISSN: 1540-9538
Print ISSN: 0022-1007
J Exp Med (1996) 183 (4): 1483–1489.
Citation
T Shiohara, N Moriya, J Hayakawa, S Itohara, H Ishikawa; Resistance to cutaneous graft-vs.-host disease is not induced in T cell receptor delta gene-mutant mice.. J Exp Med 1 April 1996; 183 (4): 1483–1489. doi: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.183.4.1483
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