Mesenchymal stromal cells are crucial components of secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs). Organogenesis of SLOs involves specialized stromal cells, designated lymphoid tissue organizer (LTo) in the embryonic anlagen; in the adult, several distinct stromal lineages construct elaborate tissue architecture and regulate lymphocyte compartmentalization. The relationship between the LTo and adult stromal cells, however, remains unclear, as does the precise number of stromal cell types that constitute mature SLOs are unclear. From mouse lymph nodes, we established a VCAM-1+ICAM-1+MAdCAM-1+ reticular cell line that can produce CXCL13 upon LTβR stimulation and support primary B cell adhesion and migration in vitro. A similar stromal population sharing many characteristics with the LTo, designated marginal reticular cells (MRCs), was found in the outer follicular region immediately underneath the subcapsular sinus of lymph nodes. Moreover, MRCs were commonly observed at particular sites in various SLOs even in Rag2−/− mice, but were not found in ectopic lymphoid tissues, suggesting that MRCs are a developmentally determined element. These findings lead to a comprehensive view of the stromal composition and architecture of SLOs.

There is a continuing interest in determining whether it is possible to identify thresholds for chemical allergy. Here allergic sensitisation of the respiratory tract by chemicals is considered in this context. This is an important occupational health problem, being associated with rhinitis and asthma, and in addition provides toxicologists and risk assessors with a number of challenges. In common with all forms of allergic disease chemical respiratory allergy develops in two phases. In the first (induction) phase exposure to a chemical allergen (by an appropriate route of exposure) causes immunological priming and sensitisation of the respiratory tract. The second (elicitation) phase is triggered if a sensitised subject is exposed subsequently to the same chemical allergen via inhalation. A secondary immune response will be provoked in the respiratory tract resulting in inflammation and the signs and symptoms of a respiratory hypersensitivity reaction. In this article attention has focused on the identification of threshold values during the acquisition of sensitisation. Current mechanistic understanding of allergy is such that it can be assumed that the development of sensitisation (and also the elicitation of an allergic reaction) is a threshold phenomenon; there will be levels of exposure below which sensitisation will not be acquired. That is, all immune responses, including allergic sensitisation, have threshold requirement for the availability of antigen/allergen, below which a response will fail to develop. The issue addressed here is whether there are methods available or clinical/epidemiological data that permit the identification of such thresholds. This document reviews briefly relevant human studies of occupational asthma, and experimental models that have been developed (or are being developed) for the identification and characterisation of chemical respiratory allergens. The main conclusion drawn is that although there is evidence that the acquisition of sensitisation to chemical respiratory allergens is a dose-related phenomenon, and that thresholds exist, it is frequently difficult to define accurate numerical values for threshold exposure levels. Nevertheless, based on occupational exposure data it may sometimes be possible to derive levels of exposure in the workplace, which are safe. An additional observation is the lack currently of suitable experimental methods for both routine hazard characterisation and the measurement of thresholds, and that such methods are still some way off. Given the current trajectory of toxicology, and the move towards the use of non-animal in vitro and/or in silico) methods, there is a need to consider the development of alternative approaches for the identification and characterisation of respiratory sensitisation hazards, and for risk assessment.

Non-hematopoietic mesenchymal stromal cells in secondary lymphoid organs play pivotal roles in tissue organization and immune responses by exhibiting specialized features such as the production of lymphoid homeostatic chemokines. However, the maturational process of stromal cells mediated by lymphotoxin-beta receptor (LTbetaR) signaling, a key for stromal maturation, remains unclear. Taking advantage of a stromal cell line established from mouse lymph node, which can produce a homeostatic chemokine, CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL) 13, by the engagement of LTbetaR but not by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor (TNFR), we analyzed the details of intracellular signaling events during the maturational process. The activation of both canonical and non-canonical nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) pathways was essential for CXCL13 induction; however, an excessive amount of non-canonical RelB-p52 complex was still insufficient for CXCL13 gene expression. Under RelB-p52-over-expressed conditions, TNFalpha could induce a markedly high amount of CXCL13 production, indicating that the downstream of TNFR contains an additional key component of signaling. We also found that protein kinase C activity plays a critical role in this process in addition to the NF-kappaB pathways. Taken together, it is suggested that the maturation of lymphoid stromal cells mediated by LTbetaR is accomplished by the cooperation of multiple signaling cascades.

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