[Functions of prostaglandin receptors in contact dermatitis and application to drug discovery].

Contact dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease caused by toxic factors that activate the skin innate immunity (irritant contact dermatitis) or by a T cell-mediated hypersensitivity reaction (allergic contact dermatitis). These inflammatory skin diseases are sometimes still not easy to control. Therefore, the development of new effective drugs with fewer side effects is anticipated. In the skin under pathophysiological conditions, multiple prostaglandins are produced and their receptors are expressed in time- and/or cell-dependent manners. However, the precise role of prostaglandins and their receptors in contact dermatitis has not been fully understood. Recently, studies using mice with a disruption of each prostaglandin receptor gene, as well as receptor-selective compounds revealed that prostaglandin receptors have manifold functions, sometimes resulting in opposite outcomes. Here, we review new advances in the roles of prostaglandin receptors in contact hypersensitivity as a cutaneous immune response model, and also discuss the clinical potentials of receptor-selective drugs.