AUTHOR=Willemsen Marcella , Melief Cornelis J. M. , Bekkenk Marcel W. , Luiten Rosalie M. 

TITLE=Targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 Axis in Human Vitiligo

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.579022

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.579022

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Autoreactive CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells play a pivotal role in melanocyte destruction in autoimmune vitiligo. Immunotherapy for melanoma often leads to autoimmune side-effects, among which vitiligo-like depigmentation, indicating that targeting immune checkpoints can break peripheral tolerance against self-antigens in the skin. Therapeutically enhancing immune checkpoint signaling by immune cells or skin cells, making self-reactive T cells anergic, seems a promising therapeutic option for vitiligo. Here, we review the current knowledge on the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in vitiligo as new therapeutic target for vitiligo therapy.</p>