Cutting edge: the B cell chemokine CXC chemokine ligand 13/B lymphocyte chemoattractant is expressed in the high endothelial venules of lymph nodes and Peyer's patches and affects B cell trafficking across high endothelial venules.

While CCR7 ligands direct T cell trafficking into lymph nodes (LNs) and Peyer's patches (PPs), chemokines that regulate B cell trafficking across high endothelial venules (HEVs) remain to be fully elucidated. Here we report that CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL)13 (B lymphocyte chemoattractant) is detected immunohistologically in the majority of HEVs in LNs and PPs of nonimmunized mice. Systemically administered anti-CXCL13 Ab bound to the surface of approximately 50% of HEVs in LNs and PPs, but not to other types of blood vessels, indicating that CXCL13 is expressed in the HEV lumen. In CXCL13-null mice, B cells rarely adhered to PP HEVs, whereas T cells did efficiently. Superfusion of CXCL13-null PPs with CXCL13 restored the luminal presentation of CXCL13 and also B cell arrest in PP HEVs at least partially. Collectively, these results indicate that CXCL13 expressed in the HEV lumen plays a crucial role in B cell trafficking into secondary lymphoid tissues such as PPs.