EpCAM Expressed by Murine Epidermal Langerhans Cells Modulates Immunization to an Epicutaneously Applied Protein Antigen.

ABSTRACT: Langerhans cells (LCs) induce type 2 antibodies reactive with protein antigens that are applied to murine skin in the absence of adjuvant after extending their dendrites through tight junctions to acquire antigens and migrating to regional lymph nodes. In response to contact sensitizers, epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) on LCs promotes LC dendrite mobility and LC migration. In epithelial cells, EpCAM regulates expression and distribution of selected tight junctions-associated claudins. To determine if EpCAM regulates claudins in LC and immune responses to externally applied proteins, we studied conditional knockout mice with EpCAM-deficient LCs. Although LC claudin-1 levels were dramatically reduced in the absence of EpCAM, conditional knockout mice with EpCAM-deficient LCs and co

SUBMITTER: Ouchi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4958526 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature