title: Expression of CD137 (4-1BB) on human follicular dendritic cells.
abstract: Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) are the antigen (Ag)-trapping accessory cells of the germinal centres (GCs), essential for the development of humoral immune responses and memory. FDCs reside in the microenvironment of secondary lymphoid tissue where Ag-activated B cells expand, and undergo isotype switching and affinity maturation prior to becoming memory B cells. In addition to delivering Ag, FDCs also provide potent nonspecific accessory signals to the B cells, which are important for the GC reaction. In this report, we show that human tonsilar FDCs express the costimulatory molecule CD137. Surface expression of CD137 on FDCs was confirmed by immunofluorescent labelling and fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. CD137 was also highly expressed by the human cell line HK, which displays many characteristics of in vivo FDCs. The interaction between B cells and FDCs is essential for the GC reactions, and our finding suggests that CD137 plays a role in FDC-regulated B-cell responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotechnology, Lund University, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindstedt
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Johansson-Lindbom
authors.forename: C A K
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Borrebaeck
mesh_terms: D015703:Antigens, CD; D020566:Dendritic Cells, Follicular / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D053261:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; C505714:TNFRSF9 protein, human; D053261:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9