Langerhans cells are not required for efficient skin graft rejection

Abstract

The mechanism of skin allograft rejection has been thought to require presentation of graft antigen by resident epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs). We have previously engineered mice that have a selective and constitutive absence of epidermal LCs. By using donor skin from these LC-deficient mice, we show that LCs are not required for rejection of major (FVB --> B6) or minor (H-Y, male --> female on B6 background) antigen-mismatched skin grafts. On the FVB background, where H-Y mismatched grafts are normally maintained indefinitely, grafts lacking LCs are efficiently rejected. Thus, LCs in the donor graft are required for long-term skin engraftment, which supports a regulatory role for LCs in skin graft acceptance.