Langerhans Cells Facilitate UVB-induced Epidermal Carcinogenesis

Ultraviolet B (UVB) light is considered the major environmental inducer of human keratinocyte DNA mutations, including within the tumor-suppressor gene p53, and chronic exposure is associated with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) formation. Langerhans cells (LC) comprise a dendritic network within the suprabasilar epidermis, yet the role of LC in UVB-induced carcinogenesis is largely unknown. Herein, we show that LC-intact epidermis develops UVB-induced tumors more readily than LC-deficient epidermis. While levels of epidermal cyclopyrimidine dimers (CPD) following acute UVB exposure are equivalent in the presence or absence of LC, chronic UVB-induced p53 mutant clonal islands expand more readily in association with LC which remain largely intact and are preferentially found in proximity to the expanding mutant keratinocyte populations. The observed LC facilitation of mutant p53 clonal expansion is completely αβ and γδ T-cell independent, and is associated with increased intraepidermal expression of interleukin (IL)-22 and the presence of group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3). These data demonstrate that LC play a key role in UVB-induced cutaneous carcinogenesis, and suggest that LC locally stimulate keratinocyte proliferation and innate immune cells that provoke tumor outgrowth.