Mast cells initiate lymphocyte egress from distant lymph nodes upon skin inflammation via RANKL-sphingosine-1-phosphate axis

Konstantinos Katsoulis-Dimitriou; Waqar Umer; Laura Knop; Tanja Schickschneit; Aaron Hoffmann; Ali El-Bizri; Lea M. Schmitter; Kathleen Baumgart; Nouria Jantz-Naeem; Vladyslava Dovhan; Charlotte Heidelbach; Lars Philipsen; Andreas J. Müller; Stephan Fricke; Sascha Kahlfuß; Thomas Schüler; Jan Dudeck; Anne Dudeck

doi:10.1172/JCI199237

¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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¹Institute for Clinical Immunology and Cell Therapeutics, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

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J Clin Invest. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI199237.
Copyright © 2026, Katsoulis-Dimitriou et al. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Published September 24, 2026 - Version history

Receptor activator of NFκB ligand (RANKL) is important for bone metabolism, but also modulates immune processes. We showed that mast cells (MCs) are involved in RANKL regulation, but the importance of MC-derived RANKL in skin inflammation has not yet been investigated. In contact hypersensitivity (CHS), the absence of MC-derived RANKL led to reduced skin inflammation due to impaired leukocyte infiltration and blood lymphopenia. Surprisingly, we observed a massive hyperplasia of the distant inguinal lymph nodes in the absence of MC-RANKL. Using adoptive transfers, flow cytometry and whole-mount 3D imaging, we demonstrated that this was not caused by structural maladaptation, but rather by the inability of lymphocytes to exit in a timely manner. Importantly, RANKL deletion in skin MCs only replicated the effect of LN hyperplasia and blood lymphopenia. Moreover, MCs were involved in serum sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) regulation during sensitization and challenge. Intravascular administration of S1P restored timely lymphocyte egress, demonstrating a MC-induced organ-spanning RANKL-S1P axis. Consequently, peripheral skin MC-derived RANKL is essential for the timely lymphocyte egress from distant LNs, which may have important implications for the targeted treatment of inflammatory skin diseases.

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Mast cells initiate lymphocyte egress from distant lymph nodes upon skin inflammation via RANKL-sphingosine-1-phosphate axis

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Mast cells initiate lymphocyte egress from distant lymph nodes upon skin inflammation via RANKL-sphingosine-1-phosphate axis

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