Lymphocyte homing into lymph nodes: in vitro demonstration of the selective affinity of recirculating lymphocytes for high-endothelial venules.

An in vitro model is described for studying the interaction between lymphocytes and high-endothelial venules (HEV) of lymph nodes. Rat or mouse lymphocytes which were layered over fixed sections of syngeneic lymph nodes adhered selectively to the endothelium of HEV but did not bind to other vascular endothelia. Evidence is presented that adherence to HEV in vitro is a property of recirculating lymphocytes and not a characteristic of cells which are unable to home into lymph nodes in vivo.