Abstract Mice that are chronically exposed in vivo to ultraviolet B light (UV-B) display altered immunologic reactivity to various antigenic stimuli. A possible mode of UV-B action is that it exerts adverse effects on antigen-presenting cell function. Because the epidermis is the only tissue that is naturally subject to UV exposure, we investigated if murine epidermal cells (EC) could perform an antigen presentation function and, if so, could this function be altered by UV-B irradiation. For this purpose, T cells immune to purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD) and dinitrophenylated ovalbumin (DNP6-OVA) from either BALB/c or C3H/He mice were incubated with syngeneic, semisyngeneic, or allogeneic EC or, for control purposes, with peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) that had been pulse-exposed to either the immunizing antigens or, as controls, left unpulsed, or pulsed to human serum albumin (HSA). After 4 days of culture, T cell proliferation was assessed by 3H-thymidine incorporation. PPD- and DNP/6-OVA pulsed, but not HSA-pulsed EC and PEC, induced vigorous proliferation of syngeneic and semisyngeneic, but not allogeneic, immune T cells. Pretreatment of stimulator ceils with specific anti-la serum and complement virtually abolished this response, which indicated that among EC, la-bearing Langerhans cells are the critical stimulators. Exposure of EC either before or after pulsing to UV-B resulted in a dose-dependent impairment of antigen-specific T cell proliferation; the T proliferative response was abolished after administration of 20 mJ/cm2 UV-B. UV-B in the dose range employed did not produce immediate lethal cell damage, premature death of cultured EC, or toxic factors inhibitory for T cell proliferation. These findings support the concept that the primary event in UV-B alteration of immune responsiveness occurs at the level of the antigen-presenting cell.

Stingl, G., Gazze-Stingl, L. A., Aberer, W., & Wolff, K. (1981). Antigen presentation by murine epidermal langerhans cells and its alteration by ultraviolet B light. The Journal of Immunology, 127(4), 1707–1713.