Table 1. Milestones in the history of Langerhans cells 1868–1985.
| Year |
Key findings |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 1868 | Paul Langerhans discovered dendritically shaped cells in the human epidermis by means of gold chloride staining technique and assumed that they were nerve cells |
(4) |
| 1961 | Birbeck et al. described the typical rod- and tennis racket-shaped cytoplasmic organelles in Langerhans cells of the epidermis. Langerhans cells were regarded as ‘effete’ (i.e. worn out, moribund) melanocytes |
(7) |
| 1966 | Basset et al. found Birbeck granules in lesions of ‘Histiocytosis X’, now called‘Langerhans cell histiocytosis’. This was the first link of Langerhans cells with cells of the ‘reticulo-endothelial system’, i.e. with leukocytes and the immune system |
(8) |
| 1967 | Wolff & Winkelmann detected ATPase activity on the surface of Langerhans cells – another piece of evidence for the leukocyte nature of Langerhans cell and their affiliation with the ‘mononuclear phagocyte system’ |
(9) |
| 1977 | The groups of Stingl, Rowden and Klareskog showed the expression of Fc-and complement receptors and MHC-II molecules on Langerhans cells. This further anchored Langerhans cells in the immune system |
(10-12) |
| 1979 | The groups of Katz and Frelinger demonstrated the bone marrow origin of Langerhans cells by chimera studies |
(13, 14) |
| 1985 and 1989 | Schuler & Steinman recognized that Langerhans cells are a special form of DCs, and that they occur in distinct states of maturation (i.e. the ‘Langerhans cell paradigm’) that are characterized by reciprocally expressed antigen processing and T-cell stimulatory capacities |
(6, 15) |