Gene expression profiles in dendritic cells from Peyer's patches and epidermal of skin

Many studies have shown that the mucous membranes and skin are at the interface with different external environments and face the disparity of pathogenic effects, such as biological agents, chemical or physical environment. This difference may demand distinct immune responses. However, the mechanism to induce the distinct immune responses in mucous and skin is largely unknown. Dendritic cells of mucosa and skin are crucial in the initiation of immune responses, maintenance of self-tolerance and antigens presentation T cells. The different functions between mucosal and epidermal dendritic cells may play an important role in different immune responses. To compare the different gene expression of the mucosal DC and Langerhans cells (LC), we utilized microarrays to investigate different gene expression profiles in mucosal DC isolated from PPs (PDC) and epidermal LC from skin (ELC). 3548 genes were shown to be differentially expressed between PDC and ELC. According to genes annotations, 105 genes may be involved in immunity process. The genes involved in immune process were categorized to five groups related to DC function, including antigen presentation, antigen uptake, cytokines chemokines, and receptors, cell surface molecules and signal transduction. 11 of the highest expressed genes were selected as the candidate genes and reformed by real-time PCR. These 11 selected genes might be suitable candidates to further study the difference of gene expression between mucosal DC and epidermal LC and would be used for design for new vaccine.

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