Cell Reports (Jan 2017)

T Cell Migration from Inflamed Skin to Draining Lymph Nodes Requires Intralymphatic Crawling Supported by ICAM-1/LFA-1 Interactions

  • Alvaro Teijeira,
  • Morgan C. Hunter,
  • Erica Russo,
  • Steven T. Proulx,
  • Thomas Frei,
  • Gudrun F. Debes,
  • Marc Coles,
  • Ignacio Melero,
  • Michael Detmar,
  • Ana Rouzaut,
  • Cornelia Halin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2016.12.078
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 4
pp. 857 – 865

Abstract

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T cells are the most abundant cell type found in afferent lymph, but their migration through lymphatic vessels (LVs) remains poorly understood. Performing intravital microscopy in the murine skin, we imaged T cell migration through afferent LVs in vivo. T cells entered into and actively migrated within lymphatic capillaries but were passively transported in contractile collecting vessels. Intralymphatic T cell number and motility were increased during contact-hypersensitivity-induced inflammation and dependent on ICAM-1/LFA-1 interactions. In vitro, blockade of endothelial cell-expressed ICAM-1 reduced T cell adhesion, crawling, and transmigration across lymphatic endothelium and decreased T cell advancement from capillaries into lymphatic collectors in skin explants. In vivo, T cell migration to draining lymph nodes was significantly reduced upon ICAM-1 or LFA-1 blockade. Our findings indicate that T cell migration through LVs occurs in distinct steps and reveal a key role for ICAM-1/LFA-1 interactions in this process.

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