Abstract
In recent years, the lymphatic system has received increasing attention due to the fast-growing number of findings about its diverse novel functional roles in health and disease. It is well documented that the lymphatic vasculature plays major roles in the maintenance of tissue-fluid balance, the immune response, and in lipid absorption. However, recent studies have identified an additional growing number of novel and sometimes unexpected functional roles of the lymphatic vasculature in normal and pathological conditions in different organs. Among those, cardiac lymphatics have been shown to play important roles in heart development, ischemic cardiac disease, and cardiac disorders. In this review, we will discuss some of those novel functional roles of cardiac lymphatics, as well as the therapeutic potential of targeting lymphatics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1246-1253 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Circulation research |
| Volume | 132 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 28 2023 |
Funding
This work was partially supported by the National Institutes of Health grants R01HL151388 and R01HL162800 to G. Oliver. We thank the Northwestern University Center for Advanced Microscopy for the help with imaging. The image was obtained through Spinning disk confocal microscopy supported by Cancer Center Support Grant (NCI CA060553).
Keywords
- embryonic development
- endothelial cells
- heart diseases
- lymphangiogenesis
- lymphatic vessels
- paracrine communication
- regeneration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
