A two‐step model for Langerhans cell migration to skin‐draining LN

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Although the role of Langerhans cells (LC) in skin immune responses is still a matter of debate, it is known that LC require the chemokine receptor CCR7 for migrating to skin‐draining LN. A report in the current issue of the European Journal of Immunology unfolds some of the intricacies of LC migration, showing that LC need CXCR4, but not CCR7, for their migration from the epidermis to the dermis. Thus, LC migration to skin‐draining LN occurs in two distinct phases: a first step from the epidermis to the dermis regulated by CXCR4 and a second CCR7‐dependent step from the dermis to LN. Here we discuss the potential implications of this new two‐step LC migration paradigm.