Differential expression of basement membrane components in lymphatic tissues.

Peripheral lymphoid tissues act as important organs of immunological defense. Characteristic of their architecture is the rich reticular fiber meshwork composed of various extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules with which the stationary non-lymphatic cells stay in intimate contact and form channels through which the lymphatic cells travel. Here we studied the distribution of various laminin (Ln) chains and different types of collagens in human spleen, lymph node, and tonsil to clarify their chain-specific distribution. The most widely distributed proteins in all these organs were Ln chains alpha5, beta1, gamma1 and collagen types IV and XVIII, which were present in practically all compartments. Conversely, Ln alpha1, alpha2, alpha4, and type VII collagen showed a more restricted expression pattern. A unique feature was that Ln alpha3-, beta3-, and gamma2-chains, which normally are not localized to the vascular wall in non-lymphatic tissues, were present also in capillary basement membranes (BMs) of the follicular structures of lymph node and tonsil and in Ln alpha1-chain and type VII collagen also in the splenic white pulp. We also found that collagen XVII was exclusively present in the ring fibers of the spleen. The results indicate that BMs of lymphatic tissues contain a variety of macromolecules that probably contribute strongly to immunological events. In addition, capillaries of the lymphoid tissue exhibit a specified BM composition resembling that in epithelial BMs of non-lymphoid tissues.