Figure 4. Langerin-positive DCs represent the major carrier of targeting antibodies to skin-draining lymph nodes.

1μg IgG2a control or anti-DEC-205 mAb were injected intradermally into the ears of C57BL/6 mice. The injection site was immediately treated with imiquimod cream, or left untreated. At the indicated time points, targeting antibody was detected on permeabilised lymph nodes cells by anti-rat IgG / APC. CD11c^low Langerin⁺ DCs (A) or CD11b⁺ Langerin^neg DCs (B) were gated, and the proportion of targeted cells among each population was measured (upper graphs). The absolute numbers of targeted cells from these subsets were determined 4h, 2 days, or 4 days after injection of targeting antibodies, under steady state (n.t., untreated injection site) or inflamed conditions (imiq., imiquimod-treated site) (lower graphs). Results are representative of three to seven independent experiments.