The final size of regenerating splenic tissue is determined by the number of LTβR expressing cells at distant sites.

Abstract

(A) Weight of splenic regenerates eight weeks of implantation into 4 types of recipients: i) WT mice that expressed LTβR in spleen (+) as well in other tissues (+); ii) splenectomized WT mice that expressed LTβR not in the spleen (-) but only in other tissues (+); iii) LTβR deficient mice that received WT splenic implants 8 weeks earlier, therefore expressing LTβR only within the regenerated splenic tissue (+) but not in other tissues (-); iv) LTβR deficient mice expressing LTβR neither in the spleen (-) nor in other tissues (-). Indicated are means and standard deviation (n = 5–9, ** = p < 0.01). (B) Cell number of splenic regenerates eight weeks of implantation into 4 types of recipients. Indicated are means and standard deviation (n = 5–9, ** = p < 0.01). (C) Indicated is the weight of the splenic implant and the weight of the resulting regenerate 8 weeks after implantation. There was no correlation between both parameters (Spearman-ρ = -0.1). The broken line indicates the mean. Each dot represents one animal. These experiments were 2 times independently performed.</p