Background: In the chicken, circulating antigens enter the splenic white pulp via the Schweigger-Seidel sheaths (ellipsoids), where they are bound by cells, the ellipsoid associated cells (EAC), which are located on the periphery of the ellipsoid. There is an increasing body of evidence that these antigen-binding cells move through the PALS, to be finally located within the germinal centers, where these antigen-transporting EAC function as follicular dendritic cells (FDC). The aim of the current study was to further study the relationship between the EAC, the FDC, and the antigen-bearing EAC which migrate through the splenic white pulp.
Methods: In order to identify the splenic FDC and their presumed migrating EAC precursors in the chicken, we used a monoclonal antibody produced against chicken FDC and an antiserum anti-S-100 protein which identifies chicken dendritic cells in lymphoid organs.
Results: Cells reacting with the 74.3 monoclonal antibody, which identifies FDC, were found within the germinal center, around the penicilliform capillary, in the periellipsoidal white pulp, and in the periarteriolar lymphatic sheaths (PALS). S-100+ cells were found in these same locations.
Conclusions: A comparison between the staining patterns obtained with both antibodies strongly suggested that the intrasplenic distribution of 74.3+ cells was identical with that of FDC, EAC, and antigen-binding EAC migrating in the PALS. Therefore, the 74.3 monoclonal antibody identified not only FDC but also the splenic precursor cells of FDC, in accordance with the hypothesis of the migration of the EAC through the white pulp. S-100+ cells were more numerous than 74.3+ cells, which is in accordance with the fact that S-100 protein antibody stains both FDC and interdigitating dendritic cells (ID). This has allowed us to suggest that 74.3- EAC may represent precursors of ID. The current findings reinforce previous investigations, which provided evidence supporting the migration of EAC through the PALS and further supported the hypothesis which considers EAC precursors of FDC.