Immune Responses at the Ocular Surface

Immune‐mediated diseases of the ocular surface are relatively broad in their respective etiologies, which can involve infection, autoimmunity, or allergy. Despite this range, immune responses often converge upstream at the level of the dendritic cell ()—a highly specialized group of antigen presenting cells required in the activation of naïve T cells. Our lab has established a novel mouse model of allergic eye disease (), which leads to severe clinical manifestations, sustained ocular inflammation, and eosinophilic infiltration at levels seen in patients with atopic keratoconjunctivitis. Use of the model has led to identification of classical 11b+ s as the key subset responsible for activating allergen reactive T cells. In addition, the model has uncovered the importance of 7 as the master chemokine receptor in homing of ocular surface s to the regional lymph nodes. Additionally, 7 has recently been shown to contribute to activation of Th17 cells in the mouse model of dry eye disease. Likewise, similar to the dry eye disease model, involves corneal lymphangiogenesis—potentially suggesting a role for corneal s in allergic immune responses. Thus, efforts to progress the current understanding of biology holds tremendous promise for advancement of novel and effective medicines in immune mediated diseases of the ocular surface.

Duke Scholars

Author Daniel Raphael Saban Ophthalmology, Corneal Diseases