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The sense of place in the immune system

Nature Immunology volume 7, pages 329–332 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

This series of reviews examines the effect of differing tissue environments on the activity and functional capacity of cells in the immune system. From their origins as hematopoietic stem cells, throughout their development and as mature cells, cells of the immune system find themselves in distinct and highly specialized niches, and contact with antigen or inflammatory signals changes their phenotype, activity and trafficking. Two-photon microscopy has provided the first direct observations of living cells and their activation choreography in the tissue environment and will no doubt continue to provide greater understanding of cellular dynamics and immune function.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by the National Institutes of Health (GM41514 to M.D.C.). Supplementary video 1 was reproduced from The Journal of Experimental Medicine (ref. 25) by copyright permission of The Rockefeller University Press (www.jem.org). Supplementary video 2 was reproduced from PLoS Biol. (www.plosbiology.org) with permission from the authors (ref. 26).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, 92697, California, USA

    Michael D Cahalan

  2. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Irvine, 92697, California, USA

    George A Gutman

Authors
  1. Michael D Cahalan
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  2. George A Gutman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael D Cahalan.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Video 1

CD4+ T cell—dendritic cell interactions within the diffuse cortex of a lymph node ∼10 hours into a priming immune response. Note stable contacts between several T cells (red) with individual dendritic cells (green) during this cluster stage of the interaction. Reproduced from The Journal of Experimental Medicine (ref. 25) by copyright permission of The Rockefeller University Press (www.jem.org).

Supplementary Video 2

Helper T cell—B cell conjugate pairs viewed ‘waltzing’ near the edge of a lymph node follicle ∼30 hr after priming with antigen. Note rapid motility stable pairs, with B cells (red) leading T cells (green). Reproduced from PLoS Biology (ref. 26) with permission from the authors (www.plosbiology.org).

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Cahalan, M., Gutman, G. The sense of place in the immune system. Nat Immunol 7, 329–332 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni0406-329

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