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The Pilosebaceous Unit Is Part of the Skin Immune System

It is well established that the functional state of sebaceous glands in vivo is a tightly regulated process orchestrated through the interaction of male sex hormones and functional androgen receptors expressed on sebocytes. In the last few years, however, it has become increasingly apparent that sebocytes like epidermal keratinocytes express a variety of cytokines which are implicated in inflammatory and immune responses. For example, sebocytes in vivo have been found to highly express tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) as determined by immunohistochemical and electron-microscopic methods. Moreover, certain neuropeptides including vascular intestinal peptide and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) peptides as well as their receptors have been localized within the pilosebaceous unit of murine and human skin. Since POMC peptides such as α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone have recently been shown to exert important immunoregulatory effects by antagonizing the function of proinflammatory cytokines (e.g. interleukin 1, interleukin 6 and TNF-α), induction of immunosuppressive cytokines (like interleukin 10), modulation of costimulatory molecule expression (e.g. B7-2) or suppression of macrophage-derived nitric oxide, complex interactions between these mediators and their target cells within the pilosebaceous gland seem to exist. The successful cultivation of sebocytes will provide a model by which the effect of these mediators can be studied in detail in order to shed light onto the various pathophysiological conditions of sebaceous glands.