Britz J S, Jason J M, Ptak W, Janeway C A, Gershon R K
Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1984 Feb;30(2):227-32. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(84)90057-6.
Skin painting with chemically reactive haptens induces a hapten-specific state of hypersensitivity that is long lasting and can be transferred to unirradiated recipient mice. A similar state of hapten-specific contact sensitivity can be induced by intravenous immunization with hapten-conjugated cells. Thus far, only two cell types have been described that can perform this function: Langerhans cells of the skin, and splenic dendritic cells. All other types, coupled with hapten, induce either tolerance or a short-lived state of contact hypersensitivity that is readily suppressed, and cannot be transferred to normal recipients. In the present experiments, it was demonstrated that culture-enriched, hapten-coupled thymic epithelial cells can also induce a state of stable contact hypersensitivity identical to that induced by skin painting. This provides evidence that thymic epithelial cells have distinctive properties as antigen-presenting cells in vivo. The relationship of this finding to the postulated role of thymic epithelium in T-cell development is discussed.
用化学反应性半抗原进行皮肤涂抹可诱导一种持久的、半抗原特异性的超敏状态，且这种状态可转移至未受照射的受体小鼠。通过用半抗原偶联细胞进行静脉免疫，可诱导出类似的半抗原特异性接触敏感性状态。到目前为止，仅发现两种细胞类型能够执行此功能：皮肤的朗格汉斯细胞和脾脏树突状细胞。所有其他类型的细胞与半抗原偶联后，要么诱导耐受，要么诱导一种易于被抑制的短暂接触超敏状态，且无法转移至正常受体。在本实验中，已证明经培养富集的、半抗原偶联的胸腺上皮细胞也可诱导出与皮肤涂抹所诱导的相同的稳定接触超敏状态。这为胸腺上皮细胞在体内作为抗原呈递细胞具有独特特性提供了证据。本文讨论了这一发现与胸腺上皮在T细胞发育中假定作用的关系。
