title: Isolation and characterization of naïve follicular dendritic cells.
abstract: Follicular dendritic cells (FDC) are specialized antigen-presenting cells to cognate B cells in the follicle of the lymphoid tissues. FDC also support survival and proliferation of the B cells, leading to the germinal center formation. FDC therefore play a central role in humoral immune responses. However, molecular and functional characteristics of FDC are largely unknown, because it is difficult to isolate and analyze FDC due to a very small number of FDC in the lymphoid tissues and the fragility by mechanical and chemical stresses in vitro. In this report, we established a novel method for FDC isolation from the spleen of naïve mice by flow cytometry and analyzed the phenotypical and functional characteristics. The isolated FDC, which accounted for ~0.2% of the spleen cells of naïve mice, were CD45(-), FDC-M2(+), and ICAM-1(+), and supported the survival and LPS-induced proliferation of B cells. We also showed that a neutralizing antibody against B cell activating factor TNF family (BAFF) suppressed FDC-dependent B cell proliferation in the presence of LPS, but not survival, demonstrating the evidence that FDC-derived BAFF is involved in B cell proliferation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Ten-nodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: Shin-ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.forename: Chigusa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nakahashi-Oda
authors.forename: Satoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tahara-Hanaoka
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibuya
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shibuya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053264:B-Cell Activating Factor / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D020566:Dendritic Cells, Follicular / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL
chemical_list: D053264:B-Cell Activating Factor; C505720:Tnfsf13b protein, mouse