Canine epidermal langerhans cells express alpha and gamma but not beta chains of high-affinity IgE receptor.

Epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) express a high-affinity receptor for IgE (FcepsilonRI), consisting of two chains (alpha and gamma chains) in humans that allows LC to perform Fc receptor-mediated uptake of allergens. We found that canine LC express alpha and gamma chains but not beta chain of FcepsilonRI, identical to human but not to mouse LC, which do not express functional FcepsilonRI (only gamma chain is expressed). This finding indicates that canine LC have FcepsilonRI-mediated function similar to or identical to human LC, raising the possibility that canine species provides a better model than mouse to understand the pathogenesis of human atopic dermatitis and investigate the therapeutic effect of drugs.