The mantle zone (or just mantle) of a lymphatic nodule (or lymphatic follicle) is an outer ring of small lymphocytes surrounding a germinal center.
[2] It contains transient lymphocytes.
[3] It is the location of the lymphoma in mantle cell lymphoma.
Mantle zone expansion may be seen in benign, such as Castleman disease, and malignancy, i.e., Mantle cell lymphoma.
Tcl-1 is expressed in the mantle zone.