[HTML][HTML] High-resolution 3D imaging and topological mapping of the lymph node conduit system

ID Kelch, G Bogle, GB Sands, ARJ Phillips… - PLoS …, 2019 - journals.plos.org
ID Kelch, G Bogle, GB Sands, ARJ Phillips, IJ LeGrice, PR Dunbar
PLoS biology, 2019journals.plos.org
The conduit network is a hallmark of lymph node microanatomy, but lack of suitable imaging
technology has prevented comprehensive investigation of its topology. We employed an
extended-volume imaging system to capture the conduit network of an entire murine lymph
node (comprising over 280,000 segments). The extensive 3D images provide a
comprehensive overview of the regions supplied by conduits, including perivascular sleeves
and distinctive “follicular reservoirs” within B cell follicles, surrounding follicular dendritic …
The conduit network is a hallmark of lymph node microanatomy, but lack of suitable imaging technology has prevented comprehensive investigation of its topology. We employed an extended-volume imaging system to capture the conduit network of an entire murine lymph node (comprising over 280,000 segments). The extensive 3D images provide a comprehensive overview of the regions supplied by conduits, including perivascular sleeves and distinctive “follicular reservoirs” within B cell follicles, surrounding follicular dendritic cells. A 3D topology map of conduits within the T-cell zone showed homogeneous branching, but conduit density was significantly higher in the superficial T-cell zone compared with the deep zone, where distances between segments are sufficient for T cells to lose contact with fibroblastic reticular cells. This topological mapping of the conduit anatomy can now aid modeling of its roles in lymph node function, as we demonstrate by simulating T-cell motility in the different T-cell zones.
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