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Sentinel cells refer to cells in the body's first line of defense, which embed themselves in tissues such as skin.[1] Sentinel cells represent diverse array of cell types with the capability to monitor the presence of exogenous or potentially harmful particles and play a crucial role in recognizing and sampling signs of infection or abnormal cellular activity and/or death. Encountering such stimuli is initiating the innate immune response.[2] Their ability to recognize injurious or dangerous material is mediated by specialized pattern recognition receptors (PRR) and possess specialized function to prime naive T cells upon pathogen recognition.[3]
Sentinel cells can refer to specific antigen-presenting cells, such as:
- Macrophages
- Kupffer cells - in the liver
- Langerhans cells - in the skin and mucosa (*these are a form of dendritic cells)
- Alveolar macrophages - in the lungs
- Microglia - in the brain
- Dendritic cells
Sentinel cells can also refer to cells that are normally not specialized antigen-presenting cells such as:[1]
- Mast cells
- Specialized T cells
Sometimes tissue cells not part of the immune system such as are also referred to as Sentinel cells:[1]
- ^ a b c "sentinel cells". Retrieved November 13, 2013.
- ^ Romani, Nikolaus; Ebner, Susanne; Tripp, Christoph H.; Flacher, Vincent; Koch, Franz; Stoitzner, Patrizia (15 August 2006). "Epidermal Langerhans cells--changing views on their function in vivo". Immunology Letters. 106 (2): 119–125. doi:10.1016/j.imlet.2006.05.010. PMID 16828878.
- ^ Pozzi, Lu-Ann M.; Maciaszek, Joseph W.; Rock, Kenneth L. (15 August 2005). "Both dendritic cells and macrophages can stimulate naive CD8 T cells in vivo to proliferate, develop effector function, and differentiate into memory cells". Journal of Immunology. 175 (4): 2071–2081. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.175.4.2071. ISSN 0022-1767. PMID 16081773.