Cutaneous immunity: bridging innate and adaptive immune responses

The skin is the body's largest immune organ, serving as a dynamic interface between the host and the external environment. Its unique accessibility, structural complexity, and wide spectrum of diseases have made it an exceptional model for studying immune regulation in both health and disease. Beyond functioning as a physical barrier, the skin orchestrates intricate interactions among epithelial, stromal, neuronal, innate, and adaptive immune cells. Recent advances have highlighted the roles of mesenchymal and endothelial cells as active immune regulators, the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures in chronic inflammation, tissue-resident immune populations, neuroimmune communication, and the influence of the skin microbiome. These interconnected networks shape immune homeostasis and contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory, autoimmune, autoinflammatory, infectious, and malignant skin diseases. A deeper understanding of cutaneous immunity is driving the development of targeted therapies and revealing fundamental principles of tissue-specific immune regulation.Despite remarkable advances in skin immunology, our understanding of cutaneous diseases remains fragmented because individual cell populations and signaling pathways are often studied in isolation. The skin is a highly interactive immune organ in which structural cells, immune cells, neurons, and the microbiome form dynamic communication networks that govern tissue homeostasis and disease. Crosstalk through innate immune pathways, cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and metabolic signals shapes disease initiation, propagation, and resolution across inflammatory, autoimmune, infectious, and malignant conditions. Emerging evidence suggests that diverse upstream triggers, including viral infections, endogenous retroelement activation, ultraviolet injury, and microbial dysbiosis, can reprogram keratinocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and other structural cells, initiating innate immune responses that ultimately influence adaptive immunity and disease progression. Recent advances in single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, multiplex imaging, proteomics, and functional tissue models now allow these complex interactions to be examined at unprecedented resolution. This Research Topic aims to integrate studies that define cell-specific functions and intercellular communication networks in the skin, providing a more comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms and identifying novel therapeutic targets across inflammatory, autoimmune, and malignant skin diseases.We welcome original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and methodological studies addressing:• Cell-specific mechanisms and communication among immune, epithelial, stromal, vascular, and neural cells in the skin• Cytokine, chemokine, growth factor, and innate immune networks that connect local tissue stress to adaptive immune activation• Viral sensing, endogenous retroelement activation, the skin virome, and their roles in immune tolerance and disease• Structural cell responses to ultraviolet radiation and other environmental stressors• Shared and tissue-specific mechanisms in autoimmune, autoinflammatory, infectious, and malignant diseases, including comparisons between skin and internal organs• Single-cell, spatial, and multimodal atlases that define cellular states and intercellular networks• Innovative and minimally invasive skin sampling approaches• Three-dimensional skin models, organoids, skin-on-chip platforms, and other functional systemsTranslational studies linking mechanistic discoveries to biomarkers, therapeutic response, and precision medicine.The Topic Editor team declare no conflict of interest. Topic editors: Khashayar Afshari, Takashi Satoh, Laura Calabrese Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84765/cutaneous-immunity-bridging-innate-and-adaptive-immune-responses