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Mast cells

Delivery of cytokine packages to the lymph nodes

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 9, pages 752–753 (2009)Cite this article

Because mast cells are situated beneath epithelial cell barriers they are strategically positioned to react quickly to an immune challenge. Using electron microscopy the authors showed that mast cells expelled small, spherical, heparin-based particles soon after activation both in vitro and in vivo. Two hours after painting the footpads of mice with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) in acetone, which induces mast cell activation only at the treated site and not in the lymph nodes, the authors could detect particles in the draining lymph node that were released by peripheral mast cells, suggesting that the mast cell particles could easily traffic to the lymphoid tissue.

As TNF has been associated with morphological changes in draining lymph nodes, the authors proposed that the mast cell particles could contain this modulatory cytokine. Using mast cells that express green fluorescent protein-labelled TNF, the authors showed not only that the particles released from activated mast cells contained TNF but also that this cytokine did not degrade after release. Lymph node size increased twofold after injection of isolated mast cell particles; however, when mice were injected with particles from Tnf−/− mice there was no detectable lymph node hypertrophy, showing that the mast cell particle-derived TNF has a role in lymph node remodelling and growth.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Kunder, C. A. et al. Mast cell-derived particles deliver peripheral signals to remote lymph nodes. J. Exp. Med. 5 Oct 2009 (doi:10.1084/jem.20090805)

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Authors
  1. Gemma Ryan
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Ryan, G. Delivery of cytokine packages to the lymph nodes. Nat Rev Immunol 9, 752–753 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2658

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