title: T-cell movement on the reticular network.
abstract: The idea that the apparently random motion of T cells in lymph nodes is a result of movement on a reticular network (RN) has received support from dynamic imaging experiments and theoretical studies. We present a mathematical representation of the RN consisting of edges connecting vertices that are randomly distributed in three-dimensional space, and models of lymphocyte movement on such networks including constant speed motion along edges and Brownian motion, not in three-dimensions, but only along edges. The simplest model, in which a cell moves with a constant speed along edges, is consistent with mean-squared displacement proportional to time over intervals long enough to include several changes of direction. A non-random distribution of turning angles is one consequence of motion on a preformed network. Confining cell movement to a network does not, in itself, increase the frequency of cell-cell encounters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. g.donovan@auckland.ac.nz
authors.forename: Graham M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lythe
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000276:immunology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology*; D018448:Models, Immunological; D012155:Reticulin / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D012155:Reticulin