Deriving a germinal center lymphocyte migration model from two-photon data.

ABSTRACT: Recently, two-photon imaging has allowed intravital tracking of lymphocyte migration and cellular interactions during germinal center (GC) reactions. The implications of two-photon measurements obtained by several investigators are currently the subject of controversy. With the help of two mathematical approaches, we reanalyze these data. It is shown that the measured lymphocyte migration frequency between the dark and the light zone is quantitatively explained by persistent random walk of lymphocytes. The cell motility data imply a fast intermixture of cells within the whole GC in approximately 3 h, and this does not allow for maintenance of dark and light zones. The model predicts that chemotaxis is active in GCs to maintain GC zoning and demonstrates that chemotaxis is consistent with t

SUBMITTER: Figge MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2605235 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature