The host lymphatic network represents an important conduit for pathogen dissemination. Indeed, the lethal human pathogen group A streptococcus has a predilection to induce pathology in the lymphatic system and draining lymph nodes, however the underlying basis and subsequent consequences for disease outcome are currently unknown. Here we report that the hyaluronan capsule of group A streptococc...

For targeted delivery of colloids to the lymphatic system, the colloids should efficiently reach and remain in the lymphatics for a considerable period of time. As per the current knowledge, diffusion and phagocytosis are the two mechanisms through which colloids reach the lymphatic system. Several parameters including particle size and charge have been shown to affect the direct uptake of coll...

The lymphatic vasculature has been regarded as a passive conduit for interstitial fluid and responsible for the absorption of macromolecules such as proteins or lipids and transport of nutrients from food. However, emerging data show that the lymphatic vasculature system plays an important role in immune modulation. One of its major roles is to coordinate antigen transport and immune-cell traff...

The lymphatic system provides an initial route for cancer cell dissemination in many cancers including melanoma. However, it is largely unknown how the lymphatic system changes during tumor progression due in part to the lack of imaging techniques currently available. In this study, we non-invasively imaged changes of lymphatic function and drainage patterns using near-infrared fluorescence (NI...

BACKGROUND In spite of radical gastrectomy with resection of the lymphatic system, where no metastases are found during histopathological examination, about 30% of patients have relapse of the neoplastic process. This situation may be caused by micrometastases or isolated neoplastic cells in the lymphatic system which were not identified during a standard histopathological examination. AIM Th...

OBJECTIVE The lymphatic vascular system exerts major physiological functions in the transport of interstitial fluid from peripheral tissues back to the blood circulation and in the trafficking of immune cells to lymph nodes. Previous studies in global constitutive knockout mice for the lymphatic transmembrane molecule podoplanin reported perinatal lethality and a complex phenotype with lung abn...

The many interactions between the nervous and the immune systems, which are active in both physiological and pathological states, have recently become more clearly delineated with the discovery of a meningeal lymphatic system capable of carrying fluid, immune cells, and macromolecules from the central nervous system (CNS) to the draining deep cervical lymph nodes. However, the exact localizatio...

The lymphatic vascular system is essential for lipid absorption, fluid homeostasis, and immune surveillance. Until recently, lymphatic vessel dysfunction had been associated with symptomatic pathologic conditions such as lymphedema. Work in the last few years had led to a better understanding of the functional roles of this vascular system in health and disease. Furthermore, recent work has als...

No growth factors specific for the lymphatic vascular system have yet been described. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) regulates vascular permeability and angiogenesis, but does not promote lymphangiogenesis. Overexpression of VEGF-C, a ligand of the VEGF receptors VEGFR-3 and VEGFR-2, in the skin of transgenic mice resulted in lymphatic, but not vascular, endothelial proliferation and...