title: Graph Theory-Based Analysis of the Lymph Node Fibroblastic Reticular Cell Network.
abstract: Secondary lymphoid organs have developed segregated niches that are able to initiate and maintain effective immune responses. Such global organization requires tight control of diverse cellular components, specifically those that regulate lymphocyte trafficking. Fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) form a densely interconnected network in lymph nodes and provide key factors necessary for T cell migration and retention, and foster subsequent interactions between T cells and dendritic cells. Development of integrative systems biology approaches has made it possible to elucidate this multilevel complexity of the immune system. Here, we present a graph theory-based analysis of the FRC network in murine lymph nodes, where generation of the network topology is performed using high-resolution confocal microscopy and 3D reconstruction. This approach facilitates the analysis of physical cell-to-cell connectivity, and estimation of topological robustness and global behavior of the network when it is subjected to perturbation in silico.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, Rorschacherstrasse 95, St. Gallen, 9007, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Novkovic
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, Rorschacherstrasse 95, St. Gallen, 9007, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Onder
authors.affiliation: Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Gubkina Street 8, Moscow, 119333, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Gennady
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bocharov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, Rorschacherstrasse 95, St. Gallen, 9007, Switzerland. Burkhard.Ludewig@kssg.ch.
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ludewig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000276:immunology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000276:immunology; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000276:immunology*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
keywords: Confocal microscopy; Fibroblastic reticular cells; Graph theory; Immune system; Lymph node; Network analysis; T cells; Topology