A common progenitor gives rise to fibroblastic reticular cells and vascular smooth muscle cells in murine lymph nodes.

ABSTRACT: The interaction of immune cells in the lymph node microenvironment depends on the infrastructure and molecular cues provided by fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs). In addition, concentric layers of still poorly defined mural cells, including vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), are involved in positioning and regulating immune cell interactions in different lymph node compartments. Using time-resolved single-cell transcriptomics, combined with cell fate mapping and high-resolution confocal microscopy, we found that lymph node FRCs and VSMCs share a proliferating, CCL19-expressing embryonic progenitor. Trajectory analysis identified lymphotoxin β receptor (LTβR)-dependent lineages that gave rise to FRCs underpinning the subcapsular sinus, T and B cell zones, and the medulla. LTβR-independ

SUBMITTER: Kurz L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12651234 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature