Acanthosis and aberrant epidermal marker expression of hBD2, Elafin, K10 and K16 in the inflamed human skin of the huPBL-SCID-hu Skin allograft model.

<p><b>A.</b> Histology (H&E staining) of human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion (i.p.) of huPBMC. Representative photographs are shown after PBS (left photograph) and huPBMC infusion (right photograph). Photograph shows increased epidermal thickness (acanthosis) and elongated fingerlike epidermal projections into the dermis (rete ridges) and large lymphocyte infiltration after huPBMC infusion. Abnormal presence of nuclei in the stratum corneum (parakeratosis) and infiltration of lymphocytes in the epidermis (exocytosis) (bottom-right photograph). 20×, 20×, 40× magnifications respectively. <b>B.</b> Quantitative microscopic histological analysis of the epidermal thickness (µm) of human skin grafts following infusion of PBS and huPBMC. Mean±SEM are shown for n = 3 and 6 upon PBS and huPBMC infusion resp. <b>C.</b> Immunohistochemistry of K10, K16, hBD2 and Elafin (brown) in human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion (i.p.) of PBS (top panels) or huPBMC (lower panels). Photograpsh show representative examples, summarized data are given in the figures. Mean±SEM percentages of the area positive for the indicated markers is shown for n = 3 and 5–8 upon PBS and huPBMC infusion resp. 10× magnification. <b>D.</b> Ki-67 expression (brown) in the stratum basale of the epidermis. The insert shows a higher magnification. A representative example of n = 12 is shown. 20× magnification. Graphs show summarized data of Ki67+ cells/mm length of basement membrane after PBS or huPBMC infusion in human skin biopsies (mean±SEM, of n = 4 and 6, resp.).</p

Infiltration of human IL-17A-producing T cells and CD4+ Foxp3-expressing T cells in the inflamed human skin in the SCID/skin allograft mouse model.

<p><b>A.</b> Immunohistochemistry of human CD4 (brown, top) and CD8 (brown, bottom) expression in human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion or huPBMC. Photographs show representative examples. 20× magnification. <b>B.</b> Summarized data of figure A. showing mean±SEM CD4 (top) or CD8 (bottom) positive cells/mm² of n = 4 and 10 upon PBS and huPBMC infusion resp in the epidermis (white bars) and dermis (black bars). <b>C.</b> Immunohistochemistry of human IL-17A expression in human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion of PBS (left) or huPBMC (right). Photographs show representative examples of n = 6 (huPBMCs) n = 3 (controls). 20× magnification. Graph shows summarized data of IL-17A positive cells/mm² following PBS or huPBMC infusion in the human skin biopsies (mean±SEM, of n = 4 and 10). <b>D.</b> Immunohistochemistry of coexpression of human CD4 (blue) and IL-17A (red, top) and CD8 (blue) and IL-17A (red, bottom) in human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion of huPBMC (20× magnification). Inserts show a higher magnification (40×) of single CD4/CD8 and IL-17A staining and CD4/IL-17A or CD8/IL-17A co-staining. . Photographs show representative examples of n = 6. <b>E.</b> Immunohistochemistry of IL-17A (red) in human mastcell tryptase (brown) and granulocyte elastase (brown) in human skin biopsies from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion of PBS (left) or huPBMC (right). Photographs show representative examples of n = 6 (huPBMCs) n = 3 (controls). 20× magnification. <b>F.</b> Immunohistochemistry of co-expression of human Foxp3 (brown) and CD4 (blue) in human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion of PBS (left) or huPBMC (right) (40× magnification). Inserts show a higher magnification (63×) of single Foxp3 and CD4+ staining and Foxp3/CD4 co-staining. Photographs show representative examples of n = 6 (huPBMCs) n = 3 (controls).</p

Cyclosporin-A and rapamycin treatment restores aberrant human epidermal differentiation marker expression and prevents infiltration of inflammation associated IL-17A producing human T cells of the human skin in the huPBL-SCID/skin allograft mouse model.

<p><b>A.</b> Macroscopic (top panel) and histological (H&E) (lower panel) appearance of human skin graft from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion of huPBMC with no treatment (left panel) and treatment with CsA and Rapa (right panel). <b>B.</b> Quantitative microscopic histological analysis of the epidermal thickness (µm) of skin grafts following infusion of huPBMC with or without CsA and Rapa. Mean±SEM are shown for n = 3 and 5 upon PBS and huPBMC infusion resp. 20× magnification. <b>C.</b> Immunohistochemistry of K10, K16, hBD2 and Elafin in human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion (i.p.) of huPBMC without (top panel) and with CsA and Rapa treatment (lower panel). Representative examples are show. 10× magnification. <b>D.</b> Summarized data represented in C are given in the figures. Mean±SEM percentages of the area positive for the indicated markers is shown for n = 3 and 4–6 upon no treatment and treatment with CsA and Rapa, resp. <b>E.</b> Immunohistochemistry of CD4 (top panel) and CD8 (lower panel) in human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion (i.p.) of huPBMC without (left panel) and with CsA and Rapa treatment (right panel). Representative examples are show. 20× magnification. <b>F.</b> Summarized data represented in E. are given in the figures. Mean±SEM percentages of CD4 (top) and CD8 (bottom) positive cells is shown for n = 3 and 4–5 upon no treatment and treatment with CsA and Rapa, resp. <b>G.</b> Immunohistochemistry of IL-17A (brown) (representative examples of n = 5 are shown) 10× magnification. Graph shows summarized data of IL-17A positive cells/mm² present in human skin biopsies following infusion of huPBMC in the absence or presence of Rap/CsA resp. (mean±SEM, of n = 3 and 4–5).</p

Induction of human chemokines and cytokines and influx of human T cells in the dermis and in the epidermis of huPBL-SCID-hu Skin allograft model.

<p><b>A.</b> Images show representative panoramic overviews (H&E staining) of human skin grafts from SCID beige mice 21 days after infusion (i.p.) of PBS (top) or huPBMC (below). Note that human epidermis is thicker than the mouse epidermis (present in the left edge of the specimen in the top image and in both edges in the bottom image) and in contrast with human skin, mouse skin has closely spaced hair folicules troughout the epidermis. Images were composed using PTGui software (New House Internet Services B.V.; <a href="http://www.ptgui.com/" target="_blank">http://www.ptgui.com/</a>). <b>B.</b> Immunohistochemistry of human CD3+ (brown) T cell infiltration in the human dermis and epidermis, 21 days after infusion of huPBMC. Representative example of n = 12 are shown. 20× magnification. <b>C.</b> Gene expression analysis using quantitative real-timePCR of human cytokine and chemokine transcripts in the human skin 21 days after infusion of huPBMC. Figure shows fold increase in cytokine and chemokine mRNA expression levels after huPBMC infusion as compared to PBS infusion (n = 5 and 3; huPBMC and PBS resp.).</p

Systemic human CD4 and CD8 T cell activation, proliferation and acquisition of homing markers in the SCID/skin allograft mouse model.

<p><b>A.</b> Flowcytometry showing side scatter (SSC, X-axis) and CD45 expression (Y-axis) (top panel) and CD4 (X-axis) and CD8 (Y-axis) expression (lower panel) in peripheral blood and lymph node and spleen cell suspensions 21 days after infusion or huPBMC. Representative dotplots are shown (n = 4–7). CD4/CD8 expression is shown after gating on huCD45+ cells. In case of PBS infusion hardly any human CD45+ lymphocytes was detected (data not shown). <b>B.</b> Summarized flowcytometry data of human CD4+ and CD8+ cells upon huPBMC infusion as shown in A. (n = 6). <b>C.</b> Flowcytometry of human CD45RO+ (X-axis) and CD45RA+ (Y-axis) cell populations in peripheral blood and lymph node and spleen cell suspensions 21 days after infusion of huPBMC in SCID beige mice that either lacked (top panel) or were previously grafted with human skin (lower panel) Representative dotplots gated on huCD45+ cells are shown. <b>D.</b> Summarized flowcytometry data of CD45RO+ and CD45RA+ cells upon huPBMC infusion in SCID beige mice that were grafted with human skin as shown in C. (n = 6). <b>E.</b> Flowcytometry of Ki67 expression in CD4+ (top panel) and CD8+ (lower panel) human T cells in peripheral blood (left) and spleen (right). <b>F.</b> Summarized flowcytometry data of Ki67 expression in CD4+ and CD8+ human T cells as shown in E. (n = 6). <b>G.</b> Flowcytometry of CLA (top panel) and CD62L (lower panel) expression on human CD3+ cells populations in peripheral blood, 21 days after infusion of huPBMC in SCID beige mice that either lacked (right panel) or were previously grafted with human skin (right panel) Representative dotplots gated on huCD45+ cells are shown. <b>H.</b> Summarized flowcytometry data of CLA and CD62L expression on human CD3+ cells as shown in G. (n = 4–5). <b>I.</b> Flowcytometry of CLA (top panel) and CD62L (lower panel) expression on human CD4+ (left) and CD8+ (right) cells in peripheral blood, 21 days after infusion of huPBMC in SCID beige mice that previously grafted with human skin. Representative dotplots gated on huCD45+ cells are shown. <b>J.</b> Summarized flowcytometry data of CLA and CD62L expression on human CD4+ and CD8+ cells as shown in peripheral blood, lymph nodes and spleen. (n = 4–5).</p