Peripheral immune-inducer dendritic cells drive early-life allergic inflammation
Yue Xing, Ilana Reznikov, Abonti Nur Ahmed, Ikjot Sidhu, Jill Wisnewski, Asma Farhat, Aleksandr Prystupa, Piotr Konieczny, Kody Mansfield, Melissa L. Cooper, Stephen T. Yeung, Madeline Kim, Sophia Adeghe, Katherine D. Gaines, Meredith Manson, Ji Hyun Sim, Qingrong Huang, Ata S. Moshiri, Kamal M. Khanna, Theresa T. Lu, Emma Guttman-Yassky, Amanda W. Lund, Niroshana Anandasabapathy, Shruti Naik
Nature, February 25, 2026
Atopic diseases arise early in life. However, our understanding of early-life immune response to allergens remains poorly understood. Here, we find that exposure to common allergies triggers inflammation in the skin without migrating to the lymph nodes. We term this in-situ type 17 activation peripheral immune inducer (pii) DC.
This pii-DC state is enabled by the immature hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and physiologically low systemic glucocorticoids characteristic of early life.