Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
bNIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Immunol Rev. 2021 Jul;302(1):184-195. doi: 10.1111/imr.12987. Epub 2021 May 31.
The molecular mediators present within the inflammatory microenvironment are able, in certain conditions, to favor the initiation of tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) development. TLS is organized lymphocyte clusters able to support antigen-specific immune response in non-immune organs. Importantly, chronic inflammation does not always result in TLS formation; instead, TLS has been observed to develop specifically in permissive organs, suggesting the presence of tissue-specific cues that are able to imprint the immune responses and form TLS hubs. Fibroblasts are tissue-resident cells that define the anatomy and function of a specific tissue. Fibroblast plasticity and specialization in inflammatory conditions have recently been unraveled in both immune and non-immune organs revealing a critical role for these structural cells in human physiology. Here, we describe the role of fibroblasts in the context of TLS formation and its functional maintenance in the tissue, highlighting their potential role as therapeutic disease targets in TLS-associated diseases.
炎症微环境中存在的分子介质在某些条件下能够促进三级淋巴结构 (TLS) 的形成。TLS 是能够在非免疫器官中支持抗原特异性免疫反应的有组织的淋巴细胞簇。重要的是，慢性炎症并不总是导致 TLS 的形成；相反，TLS 已被观察到仅在允许的器官中发展，这表明存在能够影响免疫反应并形成 TLS 中心的组织特异性线索。成纤维细胞是组织驻留细胞，可定义特定组织的解剖结构和功能。成纤维细胞在炎症条件下的可塑性和特化作用最近在免疫和非免疫器官中得到了揭示，这表明这些结构性细胞在人体生理学中起着关键作用。在这里，我们描述了成纤维细胞在 TLS 形成及其在组织中的功能维持中的作用，强调了它们作为与 TLS 相关疾病的治疗疾病靶点的潜在作用。
