Distribution of Cored Tubule-Containing Langerhans Cells in the Skin and Lymph Nodes of Mice

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Abstract
Quantitative observations of the distribution of cored tubules in the skin and lymph nodes of mice were carried out by electron microscopy. Cells containing cored tubules occur frequently in the dermis and its draining lymph nodes, but none in the epidermis of the same animal. In the dermis of untreated mice, cored tubule-containing cells occurred separately from Langerhans cells which contain Birbeck granules. The Langerhans cells containing both Birbeck granules and cored tubules were found after injection of sterile saline into the skin. These results show that the Langerhans cells in the dermis formed cored tubules in their cytoplasm under the non-specific ede-matous conditions. The saline injection caused increase in number of cored tubules in the cells in the paracortical area of draining lymph nodes. The cored tubule-containing cells and the Langerhans cells containing both Birbeck granules and cored tubules migrated from the dermis into the paracortical area of draining lymph nodes.