Luke Stanisce1, Etty Sims2, Cheryl Hou1, Yekaterina Koshkareva3, John P Gaughan4, Igor Kuzin5, Andrea Bottaro6. 1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, United States. 2. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, United States; Department of Anesthesiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States. 3. Department of Surgery, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ, United States. 4. Biostatistics Service, Cooper Research Institute, Camden, NJ, United States. 5. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, United States; Department of Surgery, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ, United States. 6. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, United States. Electronic address: bottaro@rowan.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of the potential functional specialization of palatine and pharyngeal tonsils, by comparing their cellular composition in paired specimens from a large cohort of adenotonsillectomy patients. DESIGN: Resident B cell, T cell, dendritic cell, and stromal cell subsets were characterized using multicolor flow cytometry in palatine and pharyngeal tonsil specimens from 27 patients, age 2-34 years. RESULTS: Paired comparisons showed highly significant intra-individual differences in resident cell subsets of palatine and pharyngeal tonsils. Palatine tonsils harbored higher fractions of germinal center B cells/plasmablasts and IgD- CD27- double-negative B cells, and conversely lower fractions of IgD + CD38- resting naïve B cells compared to pharyngeal tonsils. Palatine tonsils also showed lower fractions of plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and higher percentages of two subsets of stromal cells - fibroblastic reticular cells and lymphatic endothelial cells - compared to pharyngeal tonsils from the same individual. CONCLUSIONS: Despite their physical proximity and histological similarities, palatine and pharyngeal tonsils display marked intra-individual differences in their cellular composition with regard to functionally important immune and stromal subsets. These differences are likely to have immunologic, pathologic, and physiologic significance.
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of the potential functional specialization of palatine and pharyngeal tonsils, by comparing their cellular composition in paired specimens from a large cohort of adenotonsillectomy patients. DESIGN: Resident B cell, T cell, dendritic cell, and stromal cell subsets were characterized using multicolor flow cytometry in palatine and pharyngeal tonsil specimens from 27 patients, age 2-34 years. RESULTS: Paired comparisons showed highly significant intra-individual differences in resident cell subsets of palatine and pharyngeal tonsils. Palatine tonsils harbored higher fractions of germinal center B cells/plasmablasts and IgD- CD27- double-negative B cells, and conversely lower fractions of IgD + CD38- resting naïve B cells compared to pharyngeal tonsils. Palatine tonsils also showed lower fractions of plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and higher percentages of two subsets of stromal cells - fibroblastic reticular cells and lymphatic endothelial cells - compared to pharyngeal tonsils from the same individual. CONCLUSIONS: Despite their physical proximity and histological similarities, palatine and pharyngeal tonsils display marked intra-individual differences in their cellular composition with regard to functionally important immune and stromal subsets. These differences are likely to have immunologic, pathologic, and physiologic significance.
Authors: Rong Xu; Rebecca K Shears; Ravi Sharma; Madhan Krishna; Christopher Webb; Richard Ali; Xiaoqing Wei; Aras Kadioglu; Qibo Zhang Journal: Mucosal Immunol Date: 2020-01-02 Impact factor: 7.313