Search for: [Abstract = "It is commonly known that antigen deposition on the mucosa, e.g. mucosa of gastrointestinal tract, results in local mucosal immunity but induction of a state of peripheral tolerance. For many years, the skin was considered to be an organ where immune responses such as contact hypersensitivity \(CS\) were easily induced. However, skin as a site for the induction of tolerance has received very little attention. Because skin and mucosa have similar roles in our bodies, it is possible that under definied conditions, epicutaneous application of an antigen may induce a strong local CS response as well as induce peripheral tolerance. Experiments performed at the Department of Human Developmental Biology at Jagiellonian University School of Medicine showed that indeed, epicutaneous application of a protein antigen prior to sensitization with a hapten resulted in significant inhibition of CS reaction to the hapten. The inhibition of the skin response was shown to be mediated by TCRαβ\+ CD4\+ CD8\+ T suppressor cells \(Ts\). Both in vivo and in vitro studies revealed that skin induced Ts cells are antigen non\-specific. The mechanism of skin induced suppression relies on the action of the anti\-inflammatory cytokine TGF\-β. Employing animal models of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis it was shown that skin induced suppression resulted in significant inhibition of inflammatory process and"]

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