Mice Lacking Expression of Secondary Lymphoid Organ Chemokine Have Defects in Lymphocyte Homing and Dendritic Cell Localization

Gunn, Michael D.; Kyuwa, Shigeru; Tam, Carmen; Kakiuchi, Terutaka; Matsuzawa, Akio; Williams, Lewis T.; Nakano, Hideki

Normal DC Migration out of Epidermis in plt Mice. SLC is expressed (and therefore has the potential to mediate DC migration) at two points along the migration route of DCs from skin to LNs: in lymphatic endothelium and within the T cell zone. To determine if plt mice have a defect in the peripheral mobilization of DCs, we examined the migration of DCs out of cultured skin. Similar to our findings in abdominal epidermis, dorsal ear epidermis from plt mice contains a normal number of DCs (Fig. 6 E) . When segments of dorsal ear skin were placed in culture, the number of DCs within the epidermis of Ï©/Ï© and plt mice decreased to a similar extent over 72 h (Fig. 6, A, B , and E). Over the same time period, the number of DCs within the dermis increased similarly in plt and Ï©/Ï© mice (not shown). As described previously (31) , migrating DCs formed cords within the dermal lymphatics of Ï©/Ï© mice (Fig. 6 C) . A similar formation of cords was seen in plt mice (Fig. 6 D) , demonstrating that the plt mutation does not inhibit the entry of DCs into lymphatics. When the cells migrating out of dorsal ear skin were collected over 72 h and counted, the number of DCs released from the skin of plt and Ï©/Ï© mice was similar (Fig. 6 F) .