Key Players of the Immune System in Skin Inflammation – Allergy and Autoimmunity

About this Research Topic

Background

The skin immune system comprises of skin resident cells, innate immune cells, and cells of myeloid and lymphoid origin. Dysregulation of immune responses often leads to incomplete host defense, impaired healing and poor tissue restoration and function. The skin is also where sterile inflammation, including allergy and autoimmune responses such as atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, eczema, vitiligo, lupus, psoriasis, and hidradenitis suppurativa may participate in disease.

The crosstalk among skin resident cells, including but not limited to, mast cells, eosinophils, NK cells, APCs, neutrophils, Langerhans’ cells, macrophages, keratinocytes, T cells and nerve cells results in functional immune responses. These responses evolve through the recruitment of additional cell populations into the skin from the myeloid and lymphoid compartments. While mast cells and eosinophils are the principal effector cells of allergic inflammation, autoimmune disorders are primarily dominated by T cells and subsets. The disease associated inflammatory responses are characterized by the infiltrating cell populations, and released soluble mediators such as cytokines, chemokines, growth factors. Additionally, skin resident microbiota play an important role in modulating the host immune response and disease outcome. A better understanding of possible early immune mechanisms that ultimately leads to allergic and autoimmune disorders might help in early diagnosis, as well as the development of alternative, safer, and more efficacious, treatment strategies for allergic and autoimmune skin pathologies.

The aim of this Research Topic is to gather manuscripts on the relationship between the immunological aspects of skin inflammation and allergy, autoimmunity, as well as cutting edge research on the therapeutic aspects of skin inflammation.

Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Brief Research Reports, Methods, Study protocols and new discoveries are welcome to cover the following themes:

- Immune mechanisms in skin inflammation, including but not limited to, atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo, lupus and hidradenitis suppurativa.
- Skin microbiota in modulating skin homeostasis and the immune response.
- Novel cellular-crosstalk among the skin immune, non-immune cells, and nerve cells.
- Neuroinflammation: nerve cells interaction with skin resident mast cells and dendritic cells.
- Biomarker discovery.
- Diagnostic methods and novel tools.
- Pre-clinical mouse models of skin disorders.

Keywords: Allergy, Autoimmunity, Skin Inflammation, Atopic Dermatitis, Psoriasis, T cells, B cells, NK cells, Mast cells, Eosinophils, Keratinocytes, Nerves

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