<doi>10.1084/jem.20051787</doi><aid>20051787</aid>The fate of human Langerhans cells in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

JEM © The Rockefeller University Press $8.00 Vol. 203, No. 1, January 23, 2006 27–33 www.jem.org/cgi/doi/10.1084/jem.20051787 27 Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is an immune reaction of donor lymphoid cells to antigens expressed by recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In the acute form, occurring within 100 d after transplant, GVHD is a signifi cant cause of transplant-related mortality; as a chronic disease, occurring sometimes indefi nitely from 100 d after transplant, it generates long-term morbidity (1). In murine models, inactivation of recipient class I MHC prevents the initiation of acute GVHD (2) and selective class I MHC or costimulatory antigen knockout implicates both recipient and donor APCs in the full expression of chronic GVHD (3, 4). More specifi c analysis of cutaneous GVHD has revealed the potent function of recipient Langerhans cells (LC) and the attenuation of acute GVHD by temporal separation of donor engraftment in the LC and T cell compartments (5). The potential persistence of recipient LC after HSCT