Stromal cells as trend-setters for cells migrating into the lymph node

Lymph node stromal cells are found to be part of immune response induction and tolerance. To do this efficiently the immune response has to be adapted to the lymph node location. Therefore, differences between peripheral lymph nodes and mesenteric lymph nodes were identified to induce an effective immune defence. Stromal cells were considered to be perfectly adapted to their draining area and not changeable concerning their expression pattern. Here we show that stromal cells can change their profile after isolation and transplantation into a different draining area. We generated new lymph nodes using freshly isolated lymph node stromal cells from different draining areas. Subsequently, these newly organized lymph nodes were able to induce not only a region-specific but also an antigen-specific immune response. Thus, stromal cells are trend-setters for immune cells in producing a microenvironment that allows an optimized immune defense.