Dendritic epidermal gd T cell ligands are rapidly and locally expressed by keratinocytes following cutaneous wounding

TCR specific activation is pivotal to dendritic epidermal T cell (DETC) function during cutaneous wound repair. However, DETC TCR ligands are uncharacterized and little is known about their expression patterns and kinetics. Using soluble DETC TCR tetramers, we demonstrate that DETC TCR ligands are not constitutively expressed in healthy tissue, but are rapidly upregulated following wounding on keratinocytes bordering wound edges. Ligand expression is tightly regulated with down-modulation following DETC activation. Early inhibition of TCR-ligand interactions using DETC TCR tetramers delays wound repair in vivo, highlighting DETC as rapid responders to injury. This first visualization of DETC TCR ligand expression provides novel information about how ligand expression impacts early stages of DETC activation and wound repair. Published in final edited form as: J Immunol. 2012 April 1; 188(7): 2972–2976. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1100887.