Citation

Topical antigen (Ag) application mimics natural Ag exposure across the skin. Soluble Ag introduced through this route requires cross-presentation by dendritic cells (DCs) to generate CD8 T cell responses, including skin-homing T cells. DCs process Ag for display to other immune cells, and stimulate T cells to release cytokines or directly lyse infected cells. Some T cells are further stimulated to express homing markers allowing them to enter non-lymphoid tissue such as the skin or the gut.