Langerhans cell surface densities in rat oral mucosa and human buccal mucosa

Abstract

We determined surface densities of Langerhans cells (LCs) in rat oral mucosa and human buccal mucosa by enumerating ATPase‐positive dendritic cells in epithelial whole mounts. For the rat, mean surface densities per mm2 were 160 in anterior buccal mucosa, 640 in posterior buccal mucosa, 430 in the palate and 340 in the tongue. Human buccal mucosa showed a density of 890 cells per mm2. We conclude that LC densities in oral mucosa approximate those of external body sites, making them available in numbers sufficient to accomplish their postulated antigen‐presenting functions.

The effect of PUVA on Langerhans cells in rat oral epithelium photosensitized with systemic methoxsalen or topical trioxsalen

“…The density of ATPase-positive LCs in non-irradiated specimens was 548∫144, which is within the range of LC densities reported in mucosal sites of different species (23)(24)(25). No difference was found in the density of LCs in the anterior and posterior parts of rat buccal OMM.…”

Immunopathogenesis of Oropharyngeal Candidiasis in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

“…DCs are thus phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous depending on their specific differentiation pathways (11,468,469). Serving as sentinels for pathogen entry at the epithelium of the skin and mucosa, Langerhans' cells, identified by expression of CD1a, Lag, and langerin, are localized on the basal and suprabasal layers and represent 2 to 4% of the cells in the epithelium (6,34,49,59,96,99,103,216,245,262,351,356,365,390,391,442 (30). The loose interaction of DC-specific, ICAM-3 grabbing, nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) with ICAM-3 establishes the initial contact of the Langerhans' cell with a resting T cell in the apparent absence of foreign antigen (416).…”

Histomorphometric Analysis of Age-Related Changes in Epithelial Thickness and Langerhans Cell Density of the Human Tongue.

“…Previous studies showed that epidermal LCs are antigen-presenting cells that interact with circulating T-lymphocytes (Streilein 1983). LCs were also reported to be present in the oral mucosa (Bos and Burkhardt 1980;Ahlfors et al 1985). Responses to external-applied antigen were observed to be similar in the skin and the oral mucosa (Ek et al1989;Bolewska and Reibel 1989).…”