Deepening our understanding of immune sentinels in the skin
J. Clin. Invest. Frank O. Nestle, et al. 117:2382 doi:10.1172/JCI33349 [Go to this article.]

Figure 2
The spectrum of immune sentinels, portrayed in 2 dimensions, reflecting the heterogeneity and flexible functionality of the mononuclear subsets located in normal human dermis. At one end of the spectrum are DDCs expressing BDCA-1 (also known as CD1c) and DC-SIGN (also known as CD209); at the other end are macrophages expressing CD163. Depending on the skin microenvironment and cellular activation state of the mononuclear cells, additional markers and flexible functionality may emerge between these ends of the spectrum, as reflected by expression of MHC class II antigen (i.e., HLA-DR), CD11c, FXIIIa, MMR (CD206), CD14, and varying degrees of phagocytic activity. At present, the physiological and pathological relevance for the recruitment of and phenotypic as well as functional interactions among these mononuclear cell subsets, not to mention the effector arms of the innate and adaptive immune system in the skin, is not completely understood.