Albrecht Imke, Christofori Gerhard
Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Int J Dev Biol. 2011;55(4-5):483-94. doi: 10.1387/ijdb.103226ia.
The lymphatic system, also named the second vascular system, plays a critical role in tissue homeostasis and immunosurveillance. The past two decades of intensive research have led to the identification and detailed understanding of many molecular players and mechanisms regulating the formation of the lymphatic vasculature during embryonic development. Furthermore, clinical and experimental data clearly demonstrate that the formation of new lymphatic vessels by sprouting lymphangiogenesis from pre-existing lymphatic vessels, or by the de novo formation of lymphatic capillaries also occurs in various pathological conditions, such as cancer and organ transplant rejection, while lymphangiogenesis is non-functional in primary edema. In cancer, lymphatic vessels are one major gateway for invasive tumor cells to leave the primary tumor site and to establish distant organ metastasis. Therefore, the specific targeting of the lymphatic vasculature at the tumor site could be a promising approach to prevent metastasis formation.
淋巴系统，也被称为第二血管系统，在组织稳态和免疫监视中起着关键作用。过去二十年的深入研究已导致识别并详细了解了许多在胚胎发育过程中调节淋巴管系统形成的分子参与者和机制。此外，临床和实验数据清楚地表明，在各种病理状况下，如癌症和器官移植排斥反应中，也会发生从预先存在的淋巴管通过发芽式淋巴管生成形成新的淋巴管，或淋巴管毛细血管的从头形成，而淋巴管生成在原发性水肿中不起作用。在癌症中，淋巴管是侵袭性肿瘤细胞离开原发肿瘤部位并建立远处器官转移的一个主要通道。因此，特异性靶向肿瘤部位的淋巴管系统可能是预防转移形成的一种有前景的方法。
