Immunofluorescence characterization of innervation and nerve-immune cell interactions in mouse lymph nodes

Hu, D., Nicholls, P.K.ORCID: 0000-0001-7071-3055, Claus, M.ORCID: 0000-0003-1529-1480, Wu, Y., Shi, Z., Greene, W.K. and Ma, B. (2019) Immunofluorescence characterization of innervation and nerve-immune cell interactions in mouse lymph nodes. European Journal of Histochemistry, 63 (4). Article 3059.

Abstract

The peripheral nervous system communicates specifically with the immune system via local interactions. These interactions include the "hardwiring" of sympathetic/parasympathetic (efferent) and sensory nerves (afferent) to primary (e.g., thymus and bone marrow) and secondary (e.g., lymph node, spleen, and gut-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoid tissue/organs. To gain a better understanding of this bidirectional interaction/crosstalk between the two systems, we have investigated the distribution of nerve fibres and PNS-immune cell associations in situ in the mouse lymph node by using immunofluorescent staining and confocal microscopy/ three-dimensional reconstruction. Our results demonstrate i) the presence of extensive nerve fibres in all compartments (including B cell follicles) in the mouse lymph node; ii) close contacts/associations of nerve fibres with blood vessels (including high endothelial venules) and lymphatic vessels/sinuses; iii) close contacts/associations of nerve fibres with various subsets of dendritic cells (e.g., B220+CD11c+, CD4+CD11c+, CD8a+CD11c+, and Mac1+CD11c+), Mac1+ macrophages, and B/T lymphocytes. Our novel findings concerning the innervation and nerve-immune cell interactions inside the mouse lymph node should greatly facilitate our understanding of the effects that the peripheral nervous system has on cellular- and humoral-mediated immune responses or vice versa in health and disease.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	Medical, Molecular and Forensic Sciences Veterinary Medicine
Publisher:	PAGEPress
Copyright:	© The Author(s) 2019
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/53729

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