Volume 52 (5): 693-700, 2004 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. High Endothelial Venules of the Lymph Nodes Express Fas Ligand
Departments of Pathology, University of Oulu (TSK,MTA,JMM,TJK) and Pediatrics (JK), Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland Correspondence to: Tuomo J. Karttunen, Dept. of Pathology, University of Oulu, POB 5000, 90014 University of Oulu, Finland. E-mail: tuomo.karttunen{at}oulu.fi
Fas (CD95, APO-1) is widely expressed on lymphatic cells, and by interacting with its natural ligand (Fas-L), Fas induces apoptosis through a complex caspase cascade. In this study we sought to survey Fas-L expression in vascular and sinusoidal structures of human reactive lymph nodes. Immunohistochemical Fas-L expression was present in all paracortical high endothelial venules (HEVs), in cells lining the marginal sinus wall, and in a few lymphocytes, but only occasionally in non-HEV vascular endothelium. In the paracortical zone over 60% of all vessels and all paracortical HEVs showed Fas-L expression, whereas in the medullary zone less than 10% of the blood vessels were stained with Fas-L. Normal vessels outside lymph nodes mostly showed no Fas-L expression. We show that in human reactive lymph nodes Fas-L expression is predominantly present in HEVs. Because the circulating lymphocytes gain entry to nodal parenchyma by transendothelial migration through HEVs, the suggested physiological importance of Fas-L expression in these vessels lies in the regulation of lymphocyte access to lymph node parencyhyma by possibly inducing Fas/Fas-L mediated apoptosis of activated Fas-expressing lymphoid cells. The Fas-L expressing cells in the marginal sinus might have a similar function for cells accessing the node in afferent lymph. (J Histochem Cytochem 52:693699, 2004)
Key Words: Fas-L CD95-L HEV lymph node immune privilege
Fas (CD95, APO-1) is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein that is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily. It is widely expressed on various types of cells, being found on lymphatic cells such as activated B- and T-cells, NK-cells, and myeloid cells (Itoh et al. 1991
Fas-mediated apoptosis has a crucial role in the downregulation of immunological reactions. The process of downregulation starts when lymphocytes are activated. When activated lymphocytes begin to express both Fas and Fas-L, the process is called activation-induced cell death (AICD), meaning that AICD cells are predetermined to go through apoptosis sometime after activation (Lynch et al. 1995
Lymphocyte homing to peripheral lymph nodes is a highly regulated process that occurs exclusively in specialized high endothelial venules (HEVs) in the nodal paracortex (von Andrian and M'Rini 1998 In this study we sought to survey the Fas-L expression in vascular structures of human lymph nodes with different types of reactive alterations. We were able to demonstrate that Fas-L expression is predominantly present in the HEVs, thus providing these vessels a potential means for a selective exclusion of Fas-expressing lymphocytes entering the lymph node parenchyma. Moreover, we showed Fas-L to be expressed in the mononuclear phagocytic cells lining the parenchymal site of the subcortical sinus, suggesting their role in a similar protective activity against Fas-expressing cells in the afferent lymph.
Patients Lymph node samples from 12 patients (aged 173 years, mean 38.0 years; eight males, four females) representing different types of reactive alterations were selected from the files of the Department of Pathology, University of Oulu. Lymph nodes had all been enlarged and removed for diagnostic purposes. Their anatomic distribution was varied, including neck, axilla, abdominal cavity, and inguinal region. Three of the patients were under 18 years, five were 1955 years, and four were over 55 years. Material included six paracortical hyperplasias, one sinus histiosytosis, three follicular hyperplasias, and two cases with a mixed reaction.
Immunohistochemistry
Evaluation of the Stainings
Statistical Evaluation The staining patterns in the different reaction types of lymph node were compared with the nonparametric KruskalWallis test, and the staining patterns among the different anatomic regions of lymph nodes were compared with Wilcoxon's rank sum test by using SPSS v. 10.1 (SPSS; Chicago, IL). Nonparametric tests were used due to skewness of the distributions.
In the reactive lymph nodes occasional lymphocytes or sinusoidal macrophages expressing Fas-L were found in 12/15 samples. Three samples showed no positive structures for any Fas-L, even in repeated IHC stainings, and they were excluded from further analysis. Absence of any immunoreactivity for Fas-L in these three cases was not related to the age of the patients, anatomic location, or any reaction type. In all cases showing expression of Fas-L in lymphoid cells, the antigen was also expressed in a selection of endothelial cells (Figure 1). The intensity of overall Fas-L staining in different types of blood vessels in lymph nodes and their vicinity is summarized in Table 1. There were no Fas-L-expressing vessels in the germinal centers or in the perifollicular areas, and only a minority of extracapsular vessels showed expression. Most Fas-L+ vessels appeared in the paracortical region and had the morphology of high endothelial venules; the difference of HEVs and other vessels is shown in Figures 1H and 1I. HEVs showed most constant expression and the intensity in these vessels was higher than in the other vessels, ranging from weak to moderate in the HEVs and negative to weak in vessels with low endothelium (Table 1). The staining intensity in the HEVs was similar to that in Sertoli cells in testicular tissue, which was used as a positive control (not shown). In the endothelial cells, staining was diffuse in the cytoplasm, with accentuation on luminal plasma membrane in some cells. In addition, Fas-L expression was occasionally present in cells lining the inner wall of the marginal sinus (Figure 1G). These cells did not show any FVIII positivity but their distribution corresponded to that of CD68+cells seen in serial sections, suggesting that these cells are of mononuclear phagocyte lineage.
To get a more precise view of preferential expression of Fas-L in blood vessels in terms of functional region of lymph nodes and vessel type, we first counted the area density of all blood vessels as indicated by FVIII positivity in the paracortex and medulla. Vascular density in the germinal centers and perifollicular cortex was not counted because these areas were devoid of Fas-L+ vessels. Vessels with high and low endothelium were counted separately to see what proportions of HEV and non-HEV vessels were positive. The density of all blood vessels (FVIII+ vessels) was similar in the paracortex (median 106.7 vessels/mm2; mean 115.1/mm2; min 75; max 219) and medulla (median 102.5 vessels/mm2; mean 107.9/mm2; min 64; max 176; p=0.721; Figure 2) . As expected, the density of FVIII+ HEVs was higher in the paracortex (median 77.3 vessels/mm2; mean 74.7/mm2; min 27; max 117) than in the medulla (median 10.7 vessels/mm2; mean 13.3/mm2; min 0; max 32), but the density of FVIII+ non-HEVs was lower in the paracortex (median 37.3 vessels/mm2; mean 40.4/mm2; min 5; max 101) than in the medulla (median 90.7 vessels/mm2; mean 94.6/mm2; min 53; max 144), indicating that HEVs can be found in both medulla and cortex, but their proportion of all vessels is much higher in the paracortex.
The area density of Fas-L+ vessels was then counted similarly. The density of vessels was significantly higher in the paracortex (median 82.6 vessels/mm2; mean 90.7/mm2; min 53; max 176) than in the medulla (median 16.0 vessels/mm2; mean 20.9/mm2; min 0; max 69; Figure 2). Focusing on the specific vessel types, the density of Fas-L+ HEVs was much higher in the paracortical zone (median 77.3 vessels/mm2; mean 77.3/mm2; min 32; max 144) than in the medullary zone (median 5.3 vessels/mm2; mean 4.4/mm2; min 0; max 11; p=0.003; Figure 2). The density of non-HEV vessels expressing Fas-L was equally low in the paracortex (median 13.3 vessels/mm2; mean 13.3/mm2; min 0; max 32) and the medulla (median 5.3 vessels/mm2; mean 16.5/mm2; min 0; max 59).
The densities of Fas-L+ and FVIII+ vessels were compared to gain an insight about proportion of each vessel type that expresses Fas-L in paracortex and medulla. In the paracortex, the counts of FVIII- and Fas-L-expressing HEVs did not differ (p=0.553), indicating that most paracortical HEVs express Fas-L (Figures 1E and 1F). In the medulla, the density of Fas-L+ HEVs was only Finally, the densities of Fas-L+ and FVIII+ vessels were compared in the different patterns of lymph node reaction, including paracortical hyperplasia (n=6), follicular hyperplasia (n=3), and mixed reaction (n=2). No significant differences were seen among the different reaction types.
A major finding emerging from this study is that human lymph nodes with different activation states express Fas-L in most of the HEVs in the paracortical region and in the cells lining the parenchymal side of the subcortical sinus, whereas in the other nodal vessels the expression is weak or absent. This specific expression may have an important role in the regulation of immune responses, similar to the way in which eye and testis gain an immune-privileged status via Fas-L expression and Fas/Fas-L-mediated apoptosis of the lymphoid cells.
Previous studies addressing Fas-L expression in lymph nodes have mainly focused on expression in lymphoid cells and are conflicting about endothelial cell expression. Sträter et al. (1999)
The functional significance of the observed Fas-L expression in the HEVs of a lymph node was not addressed in this study. However, evidence from previous studies about the functional role of these vessels and expression of Fas in lymphocytes supports the idea that Fas-L expression in HEVs has an important role in the regulation of lymph node function. Lymphocyte migration into the parenchyma through HEVs is a complicated process, involving a multistep adhesion cascade involving selectins, integrins, and HEV glycoproteins. The adhesion molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily are followed by a chemokine-dependent arrest and migration. Only naïve T-lymphocytes are able to migrate through HEVs (McKay 1992
The phagocytosis of apoptotic leukocytes is known to take place in HEVs, supporting the significance of this process in protecting the parenchyma of a lymph node and further suggesting that HEVs limit the entrance of apoptotic lymphocytes into the peripheral lymphoid tissues (Hess et al. 1997
Although most paracortical HEVs expressed Fas-L, only a minority of the rare medullary HEVs showed any expression. This difference in the expression pattern indicates functional heterogeneity of HEVs related to their location in lymph node parenchyma. HEVs are dynamic structures. It has been shown that HEV convert from high- to flat-walled endothelial morphology and lose their ability to support lymphocyte traffic when lymph nodes are deprived of afferent lymph (Hendriks and Eestermans 1983
In addition to being expressed by HEVs, Fas-L expression was seen in cells at the parenchymal side of the marginal sinus, this kind of expression not being reported previously. The distribution of Fas-L expressing cells was similar to that of occasional sinus lining mononuclear phagocytes expressing CD68. Although the exact role of Fas-L expression in these cells remains speculative, a similar protective function as suggested for vascular endothelial expression is plausible. It has been shown that macrophages express Fas-L, the expression is upregulated in activated cells (Bradley et al. 1996 In summary, this study shows that Fas-L is preferentially expressed in paracortical HEVs of the lymph nodes and in cells lining the parenchyma of the subcortical sinus. The suggested physiological importance lies in the formation of an immune-privileged area in the lymph node via Fas/Fas-L-mediated apoptosis of activated lymphoid cells, leaving only naïve T-lymphocytes to access the node.
We thank Ms Riitta Vuento and Mr Manu Tuovinen for technical advice.
Received for publication September 3, 2003; accepted January 14, 2004
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