Published ahead of print on June 26, 2003, doi:10.1165/rcmb.2002-0230OC
Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., Volume 30, Number 1, January 2004, 31-37
A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2004
Submitted on November 1, 2002
Revised on June 26, 2003
Human nasal mucosa contains antigen-presenting cells of strikingly different functional phenotypes
Frode L Jahnsen1*, Einar Gran2, Rolf Haye2, and Per Brandtzaeg1
1 Inst. of Pathology, LIIPAT, Oslo, Norway,
2 Dept. of Ear Nose and Throat, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: f.l.jahnsen{at}labmed.uio.no.
Professional antigen presenting cells (APCs) constitute a heterogeneous leukocyte population that controls T-cell induction. Experimental animal studies have delineated the principal APCs of the airway mucosa as a network of intraepithelial dendritic cells (DCs). Whether the situation is comparable in the human airways is unknown. Here we performed a detailed characterization of putative APCs residing in the normal upper airway mucosa employing confocal microscopy of whole-mount preparations combined with immunophenotyping. A dense network of HLA-DR+ cells with dendritic morphology was found not only in the epithelium (median number, 573 per mm2), but also in the lamina propria. In both compartments these cells could be divided into two main populations based on their phenotypic characteristics: the majority expressed a macrophage-like phenotype (CD11b+CD14+CD64+CD68+RFD7+), while the smaller population was predominantly constituted by CD1c+CD11c+ immature DCs intermingled with the former. These immature DCs corresponded to the lineage-negative HLA-DR+CD11c+ DC subset present in peripheral blood. Thus, the human upper airway mucosa, in contrast to the rodent counterpart, contains a heterogeneous dense network of dendritic APCs consisting of spatially closely related macrophages and DCs. How these two cell populations regulate the tone of the local adaptive immune system should be the focus of further studies.
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