University of Cagliari
Self-renewal capacity of human epidermal Langerhans cells: observations made on a composite tissue allograft
PETRUZZO, PALMINA;
2011-01-01
Abstract
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.
Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.