Gebert A, Fassbender S, Werner K, Weissferdt A
Center of Anatomy, Medical School of Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
Am J Pathol. 1999 May;154(5):1573-82. doi: 10.1016/S0002-9440(10)65410-7.
It is controversial whether the membranous (M) cells of the Peyer's patches represent a separate cell line or develop from enterocytes under the influence of lymphocytes on the domes. To answer this question, the crypts that produce the dome epithelial cells were studied and the distribution of M cells over the domes was determined in mice. The Ulex europaeus agglutinin was used to detect M cells in mouse Peyer's patches. Confocal microscopy with lectin-gold labeling on ultrathin sections, scanning electron microscopy, and laminin immuno-histochemistry were combined to characterize the cellular composition and the structure of the dome-associated crypts and the dome epithelium. In addition, the sites of lymphocyte invasion into the dome epithelium were studied after removal of the epithelium using scanning electron microscopy. The domes of Peyer's patches were supplied with epithelial cells that derived from two types of crypt: specialized dome-associated crypts and ordinary crypts differing not only in shape, size, and cellular composition but also in the presence of M cell precursors. When epithelial cells derived from ordinary crypts entered the domes, they formed converging radial strips devoid of M cells. In contrast to the M cells, the sites where lymphocytes invaded the dome epithelium were not arranged in radial strips, but randomly distributed over the domes. M cell development is restricted to specialized dome-associated crypts. Only dome epithelial cells that derive from these specialized crypts differentiate into M cells. It is concluded that M cells represent a separate cell line that is induced in the dome-associated crypts by still unknown, probably diffusible lymphoid factors.
派尔集合淋巴结的膜性（M）细胞是代表一种独立的细胞系，还是在穹窿处淋巴细胞的影响下由肠上皮细胞发育而来，这一问题存在争议。为回答这个问题，研究了产生穹窿上皮细胞的隐窝，并确定了小鼠穹窿上M细胞的分布。使用欧洲荆豆凝集素检测小鼠派尔集合淋巴结中的M细胞。结合超薄切片上的凝集素-金标记共聚焦显微镜、扫描电子显微镜和层粘连蛋白免疫组织化学，以表征穹窿相关隐窝和穹窿上皮的细胞组成和结构。此外，在使用扫描电子显微镜去除上皮后，研究了淋巴细胞侵入穹窿上皮的部位。派尔集合淋巴结的穹窿由源自两种类型隐窝的上皮细胞供应：特殊的穹窿相关隐窝和普通隐窝，它们不仅在形状、大小和细胞组成上不同，而且在M细胞前体的存在方面也不同。当源自普通隐窝的上皮细胞进入穹窿时，它们形成了没有M细胞的汇聚放射状条带。与M细胞不同，淋巴细胞侵入穹窿上皮的部位不是呈放射状条带排列，而是随机分布在穹窿上。M细胞的发育仅限于特殊的穹窿相关隐窝。只有源自这些特殊隐窝的穹窿上皮细胞才能分化为M细胞。得出的结论是，M细胞代表一种独立的细胞系，它是由仍未知的、可能是可扩散的淋巴因子在穹窿相关隐窝中诱导产生的。
