| First Author | Kranich J | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | J Exp Med | Volume | 205 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 1293-302 |
| PubMed ID | 18490487 | Mgi Jnum | J:137077 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3797715 | Doi | 10.1084/jem.20071019 |
| Citation | Kranich J, et al. (2008) Follicular dendritic cells control engulfment of apoptotic bodies by secreting Mfge8. J Exp Med 205(6):1293-302 |
| abstractText | The secreted phosphatidylserine-binding protein milk fat globule epidermal growth factor 8 (Mfge8) mediates engulfment of apoptotic germinal center B cells by tingible-body macrophages (TBMphis). Impairment of this process can contribute to autoimmunity. We show that Mfge8 is identical to the mouse follicular dendritic cell (FDC) marker FDC-M1. In bone-marrow chimeras between wild-type and Mfge8(-/-) mice, all splenic Mfge8 was derived from FDCs rather than TBMphis. However, Mfge8(-/-) TBMphis acquired and displayed Mfge8 only when embedded in Mfge8(+/+) stroma, or when situated in lymph nodes draining exogenous recombinant Mfge8. These findings indicate a licensing role for FDCs in TBMphi-mediated removal of excess B cells. Lymphotoxin-deficient mice lacked FDCs and splenic Mfge8, and suffer from autoimmunity similar to Mfge8(-/-) mice. Hence, FDCs facilitate TBMphi-mediated corpse removal, and their malfunction may be involved in autoimmunity. |
