Abstract
THE concept that high-level melanocytes (Langerhans cells) are effete, except in a melanogenic sense, has required modification since our previously reported demonstration of adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and non-specific esterase activity in these cells1, and it has been postulated by Jarrett2,3 that material elaborated by high-level melanocytes may influence the mode of keratinization of the epidermis. In a more detailed discussion by Jarrett and Spearman4 it is suggested that the effect on keratinization might be achieved by augmenting the catabolic processes in the transitional zone of the epidermis, thus influencing the rate and degree of cytoplasmic dissolution occurring during keratinization and consequently altering the type of horny layer produced. This involves either the transfer of lysosomes from the high-level dendritic cells to the epidermal cells4, a cytocrine5 transfer similar to the distribution of melanin granules in the basal layer of the epidermis, or alternatively the inclusion of the dendritic cells in the lytic process. If this incorporation of supplementary hydrolases into granular layer cytolysis is to be regarded as the mechanism by which high-level melanocytes modify epidermal keratinization, then it is mandatory that these high-level cells should contain considerable concentrations of these enzymes.
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RILEY, P. Function of High-level Melanocytes. Nature 201, 1031 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2011031a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2011031a0
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