Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 89, Issue 6, June 1982, Pages 700-711
Ophthalmology

Langerhans Cells of the Ocular Surface

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0161-6420(82)34737-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Recent evidence has been collected by several investigators defining a distinct population of dendritic cells (Langerhans cells) of mesenchymal origin residing in the epidermal surfaces of many mammalian species. These cells play a dominant role in the processing of antigens presented through cutaneous surfaces and carry a Class II histocompatability antigen felt to be of central importance in the afferent arm of allograft rejection. They also possess many of the characteristics of macrophages active in the efferent arm of immunologic responses. An equivalent subset of dendritic cells (Langerhans cells) in ocular surface epithelium of the human, mouse, rat, and guinea pig has been identified by enzyme histochemistry, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy. Ocular surface Langerhans cells proliferate in the setting of corneal inflammation (remote and recent) and are depleted by topical and systemic corticosteroids. Ocular surface Langerhans cells may play a central role in ocular contact hypersensitivity, corneal allograft rejection, and ocular surface immune surveillance.

References (40)

  • P Langerhans

    Ueber die Nerven der menschlichen Haut

    Virchows Arch Path Anat Physiol

    (1868)
  • J Ferreira-Marques

    Systema sensitivum intraepidermicum. Die Langerhansschen Zellen als Rezeptoren das hellen Schmerzes: Doloriceptores

    Arch Dermatol Syph

    (1951)
  • C Kreibich

    Die Hautnerven A. Die Langerhans-Zelle (LZ)

    Arch Dermatol Syph

    (1928)
  • P Masson

    Pigment cells in man

  • I Silberberg-Sinakin et al.

    Langerhans cells, a review of their nature with emphasis on their immunologic function

    Frog Allergy

    (1978)
  • EngelmannTW. Uber die Hornhaut des Anges. Leipzig, 1867. Cited by Virchow H. Graefe-Saemisch Handbuch der gesammten...
  • TE Gillette et al.

    Immunofluorescence and histochemistry of corneal epithelial flat mounts: use of EDTA

    Curr Eye Res

    (1981)
  • LJ Scaletta et al.

    A fine structural study of divalent cation-mediated epithelial union with connective tissue in human oral mucosa

    Am J Anat

    (1972)
  • IC MacKenzie et al.

    Cytochemical identification of ATPase-positive langerhans cells in EDTA-separated sheets of mouse epidermis

    Br J Dermatol

    (1975)
  • JJ Nordlund et al.

    A method for quantifying Langerhans cells in epidermal sheets of human and murine skin

    Tissue Antigens

    (1981)
  • Cited by (0)

    Presented at the Eighty-sixth Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Atlanta, Georgia, November 1-6, 1981.

    1

    Supported by a fellowship grant from the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation, Chicago

    2

    Research grant EY002673

    3

    A Fight-For-Sight Grant-In-Aid, Fight-For-Sight Inc., New York, New York.

    View full text