Abstract
Neutrophils are the first immune cells to be recruited from the blood to the tissue site of an infection or inflammation. It has been suggested that neutrophils are capable of migrating from the infected tissue via lymphatic vessels to the draining lymph nodes. However, it remains elusive as to which areas within the lymph nodes can be reached by such reversely migrating cells. To address this question, we applied a model for adoptive neutrophil transfer into the afferent lymphatic vessel that drains towards the popliteal lymph node in mice. We showed that resting and in vitro-activated neutrophils did not enter the lymph node parenchyma but localized primarily in the subcapsular and medullary sinuses. Within the medulla, neutrophils show random migration and are able to sense laser-induced sterile tissue injury by massively swarming to the damaged tissue site. Co-injected dendritic cells supported the entry of resting neutrophils into the lymph node parenchyma via the subcapsular sinus. In contrast, in vivo-activated adoptively transferred neutrophils were capable of migrating into the interfollicular areas of the lymph node. Collectively, the data presented here give further insights into the functional behavior of neutrophils within the lymph nodes.