Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells as a Key Player in the Initiation Phase of Alopecia Areata-Induced C3H/HeJ Mouse

The study, conducted 6 years ago, focused on the role of type I interferon (IFN-α) in the initiation of alopecia areata (AA), a tissue-specific autoimmune disease. The researchers generated AA-induced C3H/HeJ mice through intra-dermal injection of activated lymph node cells with IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15. They found that IFN-α producing plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) were densely distributed around hair follicles in both lesion and non-lesional skin from these mice. The frequency of pDCs increased in skin-infiltrated cells of non-lesional skin from C3H/HeJ mice with AA. In vitro studies showed that IFN-α inhibited hair elongation and upregulated H-2k and CXCL10 expression in cultured murine vibrissae. The researchers concluded that pDCs may play an important role in the initiation of AA by overexpressing IFN-α.