¹Clinical Allergy Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Correspondence: Dr. Andor Pivarcsi, Karolinska Institutet, Clinical Allergy Research Unit, Department of Medicine, L2:04, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: andor.pivarcsi@ki.se; andorp@yahoo.com

Abstract

It has been well established that cytidine-phosphate-guanosine (CpG) oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) activate innate and adaptive immune responses in keratinocytes by stimulating Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9)-dependent signaling pathways. However, as Dorn et al. report, keratinocytes possess another, yet uncharacterized, TLR9-independent mechanism for the recognition of ODNs. Surprisingly, the activation of the pathway leads to suppressed chemokine production in vitro and decreased skin inflammation in vivo.