Activated keratinocytes present bacterial-derived superantigens to T lymphocytes: relevance to psoriasis

BJ Nickoloff, RS Mitra, J Green, Y Shimizu… - Journal of …, 1993 - Elsevier
In the past, epidermal keratinocytes were felt to be primarily concerned with the barrier
function of skin. During inflammatory and immune-mediated skin diseases, keratinocytes
were only portrayed as being passive/inert targets for noxious agents produced by infiltrating
leukocytes. This innocent bystander and/or 'brick and mortar'conceptualization of the
keratinocyte must now be significantly modified to take into account the growing body of
experimental in vitro and in vivo results that substantiate re-classification of keratinocytes as …