Center for Eye Disease and Development, Program in Vision Science, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21918. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021918. Epub 2011 Jul 7.
Lymphatic research has progressed rapidly in recent years. Though lymphatic dysfunction has been found in a wide array of disorders from transplant rejection to cancer metastasis, to date, there is still little effective treatment for lymphatic diseases. The cornea offers an optimal site for lymphatic research due to its accessible location, transparent nature, and lymphatic-free but inducible features. However, it still remains unknown whether lymphatic valves exist in newly formed lymphatic vessels in the cornea, and how this relates to an inflammatory response. In this study, we provide the first evidence showing that lymphatic valves were formed in mouse cornea during suture-induced inflammation with the up-regulation of integrin alpha 9. The number of corneal valves increased with the progression of inflammatory lymphangiogenesis. Moreover, we have detected lymphatic valves at various developmental stages, from incomplete to more developed ones. In addition to defining the average diameter of lymphatic vessels equipped with lymphatic valves, we also report that lymphatic valves were more often located near the branching points. Taken together, these novel findings not only provide new insights into corneal lymphatic formation and maturation, but also identify a new model for future investigation on lymphatic valve formation and possibly therapeutic intervention.
近年来，淋巴研究取得了快速进展。尽管已经在从移植排斥到癌症转移等广泛的疾病中发现了淋巴功能障碍，但迄今为止，淋巴疾病的有效治疗方法仍然很少。由于角膜的位置易于接近、透明性质以及无淋巴管但可诱导的特征，因此它为淋巴研究提供了一个最佳的部位。然而，仍然不清楚新形成的角膜淋巴管中是否存在淋巴瓣膜，以及这与炎症反应有何关系。在这项研究中，我们首次提供证据表明，在缝线诱导的炎症中，整合素 alpha 9 的上调导致小鼠角膜中形成了淋巴瓣膜。随着炎症性淋巴管生成的进展，角膜瓣膜的数量增加。此外，我们已经在从不完全到更成熟的各种发育阶段检测到了淋巴瓣膜。除了定义配备有淋巴瓣膜的淋巴管的平均直径外，我们还报告说，淋巴瓣膜更经常位于分支点附近。综上所述，这些新发现不仅为角膜淋巴管的形成和成熟提供了新的见解，而且为未来对淋巴瓣膜形成和可能的治疗干预的研究提供了一个新的模型。
