Sentinel cell

Sentinel cells refer to cells in the body's first line of defense, which embed themselves in tissues such as skin. Sentinel cells can refer to specific antigen-presenting cells, such as:

• Macrophages
  • Kupffer cells - in the liver
  • Langerhans cells - in the skin and mucosa (*these are a form of dendritic cells)
  • Alveolar macrophages - in the lungs
  • Microglia - in the brain
• Dendritic cells

Sentinel cells can also refer to cells that are normally not specialized antigen-presenting cells such as:

• Mast cells
• Specialized T cells

Sometimes tissue cells not part of the immune system such as are also referred to as Sentinel cells:

• Fibroblasts
• Epithelial cells