Ocular Immune Privilege Sites

Abstract

The eye is one of the immune privilege sites of the body that is consequently protected from the detrimental and potentially blinding influences of immunologic inflammation. Within the eye, the anterior chamber has been recognized for its immune privilege property for many years now; however, a similar property detectable in the subretinal space has only recently been appreciated. These ocular sites are not only equipped with specialized mechanisms that barricade local inflammatory responses, but also induce systemic regulatory immune response. Numerous studies have characterized molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in conferring both these sites with an immune privilege status. Pigmented epithelial cells lining the anterior chamber in the iris and ciliary body area as well as those in the retina are endowed with immunomodulatory properties that contribute to ocular immune privilege. These cells, via expression of either soluble factors or membrane molecules, inhibit inflammatory T cell activation and promote the generation of regulatory T cells. In the anterior chamber resident antigen-presenting cells, influenced by the various immunosuppressive factors present in the aqueous humor, capture ocular antigens and present them in the spleen to T cells in association with NKT cells and marginal zone B cells. Immunomodulatory microenvironment created by these cells helps generate regulatory T cells, capable of interrupting the induction as well as expression of inflammatory responses. Furthermore, neural regulation of both intraocular and systemic regulatory mechanisms also contributes to ocular immune privilege.