Transgenic hen-egg lysozyme-specific B cells (green) and control, nontransgenic B cells (red) were transferred into syngeneic mice. One day later, the animals were injected with hen-egg lysozyme and one hour later, the inguinal lymph nodes removed and examined. The relocation of the antigen-engaged B cells to the rim of the follicle can be seen most clearly in the xz projection view in (B). (From T. Okada et al.,
Though we think of them as blood cells, lymphocytes spend much of their time in distinct locations in the body. Now teams at three University of California schools have for the first time captured, in vivo, immune cells in motion as they differentiate and respond to antigen within these compartments.
The key technology underlying the two papers: two-photon microscopy. In two-photon microscopy fluorophores are excited simultaneously by two photons of twice the wavelength of the single, ...
