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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Exp Dermatol. 2013 Jun 20;22(9):566–569. doi: 10.1111/exd.12183

Fig. 1. Translating stress to the skin into an autoimmune response to melanocytes.

Fig. 1

Under [1], melanocytes are exposed to stressors that [2] compromise their physiology and lead to generation of ROS. [3] Melanocytes secrete/release HSP70 (in part chaperoning melanocyte-specific antigens) which [4] activates DC that migrate to skin-draining lymph nodes to [5] recruit CD4 and, particularly, CD8 T cells which [6] kill remaining melanocytes by the perforin/granzyme pathway. We propose to [7] apply mutant HSP70iQ435A to block HSP70 from activating and perpetuating autoimmunity and associated depigmentation, allowing [8] melanocyte stem cells to differentiate and migrate to depigmented areas of the skin during repigmentation.