| First Author | Chai Q | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 1013-24 |
| PubMed ID | 23623380 | Mgi Jnum | J:203158 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5525049 | Doi | 10.1016/j.immuni.2013.03.012 |
| Citation | Chai Q, et al. (2013) Maturation of lymph node fibroblastic reticular cells from myofibroblastic precursors is critical for antiviral immunity. Immunity 38(5):1013-24 |
| abstractText | The stromal scaffold of the lymph node (LN) paracortex is built by fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs). Conditional ablation of lymphotoxin-beta receptor (LTbetaR) expression in LN FRCs and their mesenchymal progenitors in developing LNs revealed that LTbetaR-signaling in these cells was not essential for the formation of LNs. Although T cell zone reticular cells had lost podoplanin expression, they still formed a functional conduit system and showed enhanced expression of myofibroblastic markers. However, essential immune functions of FRCs, including homeostatic chemokine and interleukin-7 expression, were impaired. These changes in T cell zone reticular cell function were associated with increased susceptibility to viral infection. Thus, myofibroblasic FRC precursors are able to generate the basic T cell zone infrastructure, whereas LTbetaR-dependent maturation of FRCs guarantees full immunocompetence and hence optimal LN function during infection. |
