Poster Presentation Australasian Society for Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting 2014

The interaction of Langerhans and dermal dendritic cells with Herpes Simplex Virus-1 in human skin (#191)

Min Kim 1 2 , Naomi Truong 1 2 , Andrew Harman 1 2 , Najla Nasr 1 2 , Kirstie Bertram 1 2 , Kaylene McKinnon 3 , Ralph C Cohen 4 , Anthony L Cunningham 1 2
  1. The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Westmead Millennium Institute, Westmead, NSW, Australia
  3. Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Parramatta, NSW, Australia
  4. The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia

Initial genital HSV-1/2 infection occurs through stratified squamous epithelium (SSE) of the genital mucosa and LCs in SSE are likely to be the first dendritic cells (DCs) to encounter HSV. However, little is known about the fate of those LCs and their interaction with dermal DCs (dDCs) prior to antigen presentation to T cells. In this study, we established a human foreskin explant system to examine responses of LCs and dDCs (BDCA3+ or DC-SIGN+) to topical HSV-1 infection and compared it with a primary herpes biopsy and isolated LCs/dDCs from discarded abdominal skin. In the epidermis, LCs were infected with pUL37-GFP-HSV-1 and migrated into the dermis clustering with those dDCs at 24-48 hr p.i. They also expressed caspase 3, CD80, and HSV immediate early protein ICP27 at 24 hr p.i. Likewise, HSV-1-infected LCs and their interaction with dDCs were found in the primary herpes biopsy and in vitro study. Emigration of LCs and BDCA3/DC-SIGN dDCs from the infected inner foreskin tissues was observed at 72 hr p.i. in migration assay using a transwell system. Our results suggest that dDCs might also take up HSV Ag from LCs and deliver it to T cells in the dermal infiltrate or lymph nodes.