Methods to study pulmonary dendritic cell migration.

Dendritic cell migration from the airway to the lymph nodes is a key event in the development of airway immunity during infection, allergy, and vaccination. With judicial selection of materials, there are two approaches to study dendritic cell migration to the mediastinal lymph nodes without the induction of inflammation: airway administration of fluorescent OVA and latex beads. Our protocol describes how to label and track pulmonary dendritic cells from the airway and lung to the mediastinal lymph nodes and reveals how to avoid pitfalls and suboptimal assays.