International Education and Research Center for Food and Agricultural Immunology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Miyagi, 980-8572, Japan.
Laboratory of Animal Functional Morphology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Miyagi, 980-8572, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jul 9;14(1):15783. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-65984-4.
Peyer's patches (PPs), which contain an abundance of B and T cells, play a key role in inducing pivotal immune responses in the intestinal tract. PPs are defined as aggregated lymph follicles, which consist of multiple lymph follicles (LFs) that may interact with each other in a synergistic manner. LFs are thought to be spherical in shape; however, the characteristics of their structure are not fully understood. To elucidate changes in the structure of PPs as individuals grow, we generated serial 2D sections from entire PPs harvested from mice at 2, 4, and 10 weeks of age and performed a 3D analysis using a software, Amira. Although the number of LFs in PPs was not changed throughout the experiment, the volume and surface area of LFs increased significantly, indicating that LFs in PPs develop continuously by recruiting immune cells, even after weaning. In response to the dramatic changes in the intestinal environment after weaning, the development of germinal centers (GCs) in LFs was observed at 4 and 10 weeks (but not 2 weeks) of age. In addition, GCs gradually began to form away from the center of LFs and close to the muscle layer where export lymphatic vessels develop. Importantly, each LF was joined to the adjacent LF; this feature was observed even in preweaning nonactivated PPs. These results suggest that PPs may have a unique organization and structure that enhance immune functions, allowing cells in LFs to have free access to adjacent LFs and egress smoothly from PPs to the periphery upon stimulation after weaning.
派尔集合淋巴结(PPs)含有丰富的 B 细胞和 T 细胞,在诱导肠道关键免疫反应中发挥着重要作用。PPs 被定义为聚集的淋巴滤泡,由多个淋巴滤泡(LFs)组成,这些滤泡可能以协同方式相互作用。LFs 被认为呈球形,但它们的结构特征尚未完全了解。为了阐明个体生长过程中 PPs 结构的变化,我们从 2、4 和 10 周龄的小鼠中采集整个 PPs 并生成一系列 2D 切片,然后使用 Amira 软件进行 3D 分析。尽管整个实验过程中 PPs 中的 LF 数量没有变化,但 LF 的体积和表面积显著增加,这表明 PPs 中的 LF 通过招募免疫细胞不断发育,即使在断奶后也是如此。为了响应断奶后肠道环境的剧烈变化,在 4 周和 10 周(但不是 2 周)龄时观察到 LF 中的生发中心(GCs)的发育。此外,GCs 逐渐开始从 LF 的中心形成,并靠近发育输出淋巴管的肌肉层。重要的是,每个 LF 都与相邻的 LF 相连;即使在非激活的断奶前 PPs 中也观察到了这一特征。这些结果表明,PPs 可能具有独特的组织和结构,增强免疫功能,使 LF 中的细胞能够自由进入相邻的 LF,并在断奶后受到刺激时从 PPs 顺利流出到外周。