Contact sensitizers decrease 33D1 expression on mature Langerhans cells.

Langerhans cells play a critical role in allergic contact hypersensitivity. In vivo, these cells capture xenobiotics that penetrate the skin and transport them through the lymphatic vessels into regional lymph nodes for presentation to T cells. During this migration step, Langerhans cells become mature dendritic cells according to their phenotype and their high immunostimulatory capacity. In vitro, when isolated from the skin and cultured for 3 days, Langerhans cells undergo similar phenotypic and functional maturation. In this study, the capacity of sensitizers, irritants and neutral chemicals to modulate the surface marker expression and morphology of pure mature murine Langerhans cells in vitro was examined. Contact with 4 sensitizers (2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfate, 4-ethoxymethylene-2-phenyl-2-oxazolin-5-one, p-phenylenediamine, mercaptobenzo-thiazole) resulted in a rapid, specific, marked fall in 33D1 expression, a murine specific dendritic cell marker. No effect was observed with 2 neutral chemicals (sodium chloride, methyl nicotinate) or 2 irritants (dimethyl sulfoxide, benzalkonium chloride). Nevertheless, sodium lauryl sulfate, a very irritant detergent, altered morphology and down-regulated all membrane markers. These preliminary data suggest that in vitro modulation of 33D1 expression by strong sensitizers may be an approach to the development of an in vitro model for the identification of chemicals that have the potential to cause skin sensitization and to distinguish them as far as possible from irritants.