The Story of the Langerhans Cell

Most people associate Paul Langerhans with the discovery of the "islets of Langerhans" in the pancreas. However, it is not the only distinction he can claim - he was the first to describe the granular layer of the epidermal covering of the skin, and also the branched or "dendritic" cells of the epidermis which bear his name. The nature and function of these cells was still being debated over 100 years after Langerhans first described them and it was only as the result of intensive research during the 1960s and 1970s by cutaneous biologists, immunologists and dermatologists that their secret has been revealed. In The Story of the Langerhans Cell Professor Breathnach entertainingly chronicles his own, and many colleagues' research into the nature and function of these cells.