A possible role of chemotaxis in germinal center formation

Abstract

During the germinal center reaction a characteristic morphology is developed. In the framework of a recently developed space-time-model for the germinal center a mechanism for the formation of dark and light zones has been proposed. The mechanism is based on a diffusing differentiation signal which is secerned by follicular dendritic cells. Here, we investigate a possible influence of recently found chemokines for the germinal center formation in the framework of a single-cell-based stochastic and discrete three-dimensional model. We will also consider alternative possible chemotactic pathways that may play a role for the development of both zones. Our results suggest that the centrocyte motility resulting from a follicular dendritic cell-derived chemokine has to exceed a lower limit to allow the separation of centroblasts and centrocytes. In contrast to light microscopy the dark zone is ring shaped. This suggests that FDC-derived chemoattractants alone cannot explain the typical germinal center morphology.