T-cell priming by dendritic cells in lymph nodes occurs in three distinct phases

Nature. 2004 Jan 8;427(6970):154-9. doi: 10.1038/nature02238.

Abstract

Primary T-cell responses in lymph nodes (LNs) require contact-dependent information exchange between T cells and dendritic cells (DCs). Because lymphocytes continually enter and leave normal LNs, the resident lymphocyte pool is composed of non-synchronized cells with different dwell times that display heterogeneous behaviour in mouse LNs in vitro. Here we employ two-photon microscopy in vivo to study antigen-presenting DCs and naive T cells whose dwell time in LNs was synchronized. During the first 8 h after entering from the blood, T cells underwent multiple short encounters with DCs, progressively decreased their motility, and upregulated activation markers. During the subsequent 12 h T cells formed long-lasting stable conjugates with DCs and began to secrete interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma. On the second day, coinciding with the onset of proliferation, T cells resumed their rapid migration and short DC contacts. Thus, T-cell priming by DCs occurs in three successive stages: transient serial encounters during the first activation phase are followed by a second phase of stable contacts culminating in cytokine production, which makes a transition into a third phase of high motility and rapid proliferation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Cell Division
  • Cell Movement
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Dendritic Cells / immunology*
  • Interferon-gamma / metabolism
  • Interleukin-2 / metabolism
  • Lymph Nodes / cytology*
  • Lymph Nodes / immunology*
  • Lymphocyte Activation*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • T-Lymphocytes / cytology*
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Interleukin-2
  • Interferon-gamma