Correlation between lymphocyte proliferative responses and dendritic cell migration in regional lymph nodes following skin painting with contact-sensitizing agents.

We have investigated whether there exists a correlation between the induction of draining lymph node cell (LNC) proliferation in contact allergy and the accumulation of dendritic cells (DC) within such lymph nodes. CBA/Ca mice, which compared with mice of BALB/c strain, mount a more vigorous lymphocyte proliferative response following sensitization, also exhibited a more marked accumulation of DC in draining lymph nodes 24 h following skin painting. Moreover, studies with the skin-sensitizing fluorochromes fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and rhodamine B isothiocyanate (RITC) revealed that DC-enriched fractions of draining LNC prepared from CBA/Ca mice contained a higher percentage of antigen-bearing cells than did those from BALB/c mice. A relationship between DC migration into lymph nodes and the magnitude of the induced LNC proliferative response was also indicated by experiments performed in BALB/c mice with a variety of contact allergens. It was observed that there was a direct correlation between the vigour of the proliferative response measured 3 days following exposure and the frequency of DC in draining nodes at 24 h. Collectively these data suggest that following skin sensitization the migration of DC into the draining lymph nodes influences quantitatively the primary immune response and the development of contact allergy.