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1 in Langerhans Cell Biology: The Skin of Transforming
Growth Factor
1 Null Mice Is Devoid of Epidermal
Langerhans Cells
By

From the * Dermatology Branch and Transforming growth factor
the Laboratory of Chemoprevention, National Cancer Institute,
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1908; and the § Department of Biological
Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
1 (TGF-
1) regulates leukocytes and epithelial cells. To determine whether the pleiotropic effects of TGF-
1, a cytokine that is produced by both keratinocytes and Langerhans cells (LC), extend to epidermal leukocytes, we characterized LC (the
epidermal contingent of the dendritic cell [DC] lineage) and dendritic epidermal T cells
(DETC) in TGF-
1 null (TGF-
1
/
) mice. I-A+ LC were not detected in epidermal cell
suspensions or epidermal sheets prepared from TGF-
1
/
mice, and epidermal cell suspensions were devoid of allostimulatory activity. In contrast, TCR-
+ DETC were normal in
number and appearance in TGF-
1
/
mice and, importantly, DETC represented the only
leukocytes in the epidermis. Immunolocalization studies revealed CD11c+ DC in lymph nodes
from TGF-
1
/
mice, although gp40+ DC were absent. Treatment of TGF-
1
/
mice
with rapamycin abrogated the characteristic inflammatory wasting syndrome and prolonged survival indefinitely, but did not result in population of the epidermis with LC. Thus, the LC
abnormality in TGF-
1
/
mice is not a consequence of inflammation in skin or other organs, and LC development is not simply delayed in these animals. We conclude that endogenous TGF-
1 is essential for normal murine LC development or epidermal localization.
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