Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:p>Dendritic cells (DC) are important in differential T‐cell priming. Little is known about the local priming by DC in the microenvironment of different lymph nodes and about the fate of the imprinted T cells. Therefore, freshly isolated rat DC from mesenteric lymph nodes (mLN) and axillary lymph nodes (axLN) were phenotyped and cultured with blood T cells in the presence of the superantigen <jats:italic>Mycoplasma arthritidis</jats:italic> mitogen (MAM). The phenotype, proliferation and apoptosis of the primed T cells were analysed. Our data show that a common DC population exists in both mLN and axLN. In addition, region‐specific DC with an organotypical marker expression imprinted by the drained area were found. Coculture of T cells with DC from mLN or axLN resulted in a distinct shift in the CD4 and CD8 expression of T cells and their phenotype. Furthermore, when these differentially primed mLN and axLN T cells were injected into recipients, mLN‐primed T cells survived longer in other lymphoid organs<jats:italic>.</jats:italic> The results show that the region‐specific DC have a unique phenotype and an impact on the ratio of CD4 : CD8 T cells during an immune response <jats:italic>in vivo.</jats:italic></jats:p>