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Nickel allergies: paying the Toll for innate immunity

Journal of Molecular Medicine volume 89, Article number: 961 (2011) Cite this article

Abstract

Allergic contact hypersensitivity responses to the transition metal nickel (Ni2+) affect millions of people worldwide despite extensive legislatory efforts to ban the use of Ni2+ in products coming into direct contact with the skin. Like other contact allergens, Ni2+ triggers a T lymphocyte-driven delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction that is characterized by leukocyte infiltration at sites of allergen exposure. The last years have revealed that besides a hapten-specific T cell response, Ni2+ can also directly trigger an innate immune response in resident skin cells that is necessary for mounting an allergic hypersensitivity reaction to Ni2+. Recently, the receptor for the bacterial membrane component lipopolysaccharide, Toll-like receptor 4, has been identified as the crucial mediator of the innate immune response to Ni2+, demonstrating that Ni2+ employs signaling components of the bacterial defense system to elicit its allergic reactions. Here, we provide an overview of Ni2+-induced signaling events that have been implicated in contributing to the hypersensitivity response to this transition metal. We briefly review the causes and genetic predisposition fostering allergic responses to Ni2+ and discuss potential therapeutic and prophylactic strategies and chances evolving from the novel insights into the molecular basis of this disease.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by contract research of the Baden-Württemberg-Stiftung, Forschungsprogramm “Allergologie 2” (P-LS-AL2/07 to M.G and M.S.) and a grant from the Dr. Herbert Stolzenberg-Stiftung (to M.S.). The authors wish to thank Dr. Stefan Martin and Badrinarayanan Raghavan for valuable discussion and critical reading of the manuscript.

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The authors declare no conflict of interests.

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  1. Department of Dermatology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Gaffkystr. 14, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Marc Schmidt & Matthias Goebeler

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  1. Marc Schmidt
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Correspondence to Marc Schmidt.

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Schmidt, M., Goebeler, M. Nickel allergies: paying the Toll for innate immunity. J Mol Med 89, 961 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00109-011-0780-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00109-011-0780-0

Keywords

  • Nickel
  • Allergic contact dermatitis
  • Innate immunity
  • Toll-like receptor
  • Inflammation