The peripheral nervous system communicates specifically with the immune system via local interactions. These interactions include the "hardwiring" of sympathetic/parasympathetic (efferent) and sensory nerves (afferent) to primary (e.g., thymus and bone marrow) and secondary (e.g., lymph node, spleen, and gut-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoid tissue/organs. To gain a better understanding of this bidirectional interaction/crosstalk between the two systems, we have investigated the distribution of nerve fibres and PNS-immune cell associations in situ in the mouse lymph node by using immunofluorescent staining and confocal microscopy/ three-dimensional reconstruction. Our results demonstrate i) the presence of extensive nerve fibres in all compartments (including B cell follicles) in the mouse lymph node; ii) close contacts/associations of nerve fibres with blood vessels (including high endothelial venules) and lymphatic vessels/sinuses; iii) close contacts/associations of nerve fibres with various subsets of dendritic cells (e.g., B220+CD11c+, CD4+CD11c+, CD8a+CD11c+, and Mac1+CD11c+), Mac1+ macrophages, and B/T lymphocytes. Our novel findings concerning the innervation and nerve-immune cell interactions inside the mouse lymph node should greatly facilitate our understanding of the effects that the peripheral nervous system has on cellular- and humoral-mediated immune responses or vice versa in health and disease.

中文翻译：

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小鼠淋巴结中神经支配和神经免疫细胞相互作用的免疫荧光表征。

周围神经系统通过局部相互作用与免疫系统进行特异性通讯。这些相互作用包括交感神经/副交感神经（感觉神经）和感觉神经（触觉神经）与原发性（例如胸腺和骨髓）和继发性（例如淋巴结，脾脏以及与肠道相关的淋巴组织）淋巴组织/器官。为了更好地了解两个系统之间的双向交互作用/串扰，我们使用免疫荧光染色和共聚焦显微镜/三维重建技术研究了小鼠淋巴结中神经纤维和PNS免疫细胞缔合的原位分布。我们的结果表明：i）小鼠淋巴结所有隔室（包括B细胞滤泡）中均存在广泛的神经纤维；ii）神经纤维与血管（包括高内皮小静脉）和淋巴管/窦的紧密接触/联系；iii）神经纤维与树突状细胞的各种子集（例如B220 + CD11c +，CD4 + CD11c +，CD8a + CD11c +和Mac1 + CD11c +），Mac1 +巨噬细胞和B / T淋巴细胞紧密接触/关联。关于小鼠淋巴结内神经支配和神经免疫细胞相互作用的新发现，将极大地促进我们对周围神经系统对细胞和体液介导的免疫反应的影响的理解，反之亦然。和Mac1 + CD11c +），Mac1 +巨噬细胞和B / T淋巴细胞。关于小鼠淋巴结内神经支配和神经免疫细胞相互作用的新发现，将极大地促进我们对周围神经系统对细胞和体液介导的免疫反应的影响的理解，反之亦然。和Mac1 + CD11c +），Mac1 +巨噬细胞和B / T淋巴细胞。关于小鼠淋巴结内神经支配和神经免疫细胞相互作用的新发现，将极大地促进我们对周围神经系统对细胞和体液介导的免疫反应的影响的理解，反之亦然。