Omental milky spots develop in the absence of lymphoid tissue-inducer cells and support B and T cell responses to peritoneal antigens.

ABSTRACT: The omentum is a site of B1 cell lymphopoiesis and immune responsiveness to T cell-independent antigens. However, it is unknown whether it supports immune responses independently of conventional lymphoid organs. We showed that the omentum collected antigens and cells from the peritoneal cavity and supported T cell-dependent B cell responses, including isotype switching, somatic hypermutation, and limited affinity maturation, despite the lack of identifiable follicular dendritic cells. The omentum also supported CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses to peritoneal antigens and recruited effector T cells primed in other locations. Unlike conventional lymphoid organs, milky spots in the omentum developed in the absence of lymphoid tissue-inducer cells, but required the chemokine CXCL13. Although the

SUBMITTER: Rangel-Moreno J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2754314 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature