Identification of a new stromal cell type involved in the regulation of inflamed B cell follicles

C Mionnet, I Mondor, A Jorquera, M Loosveld… - PLoS …, 2013 - journals.plos.org
C Mionnet, I Mondor, A Jorquera, M Loosveld, J Maurizio, ML Arcangeli, NH Ruddle
PLoS biology, 2013journals.plos.org
Lymph node (LN) stromal cells provide survival signals and adhesive substrata to
lymphocytes. During an immune response, B cell follicles enlarge, questioning how LN
stromal cells manage these cellular demands. Herein, we used a murine fate mapping
system to describe a new stromal cell type that resides in the T cell zone of resting LNs. We
demonstrated that upon inflammation, B cell follicles progressively trespassed into the
adjacent T cell zone and surrounded and converted these stromal cells into CXCL13 …
Lymph node (LN) stromal cells provide survival signals and adhesive substrata to lymphocytes. During an immune response, B cell follicles enlarge, questioning how LN stromal cells manage these cellular demands. Herein, we used a murine fate mapping system to describe a new stromal cell type that resides in the T cell zone of resting LNs. We demonstrated that upon inflammation, B cell follicles progressively trespassed into the adjacent T cell zone and surrounded and converted these stromal cells into CXCL13 secreting cells that in return delineated the new boundaries of the growing follicle. Acute B cell ablation in inflamed LNs abolished CXCL13 secretion in these cells, while LT-β deficiency in B cells drastically affected this conversion. Altogether, we reveal the existence of a dormant stromal cell subset that can be functionally awakened by B cells to delineate the transient boundaries of their expanding territories upon inflammation.
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