Department of Pharmacology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Trends Cardiovasc Med. 2011 Jul;21(5):135-40. doi: 10.1016/j.tcm.2012.04.002.
The lymphatic vasculature plays a pivotal role in maintaining tissue fluid homeostasis, immune surveillance, and lipid uptake in the gastrointestinal organs. Therefore, impaired function of the lymphatic vessels caused by genetic defects, infection, trauma, or surgery leads to the abnormal accrual of lymph fluid in the tissue and culminates in the swelling of affected tissues, known as lymphedema. Lymphedema causes impaired wound healing, compromised immune defense, and, in rare case, lymphangiosarcoma. Although millions of people suffer from lymphedema worldwide, no effective therapy is currently available. In addition, recent advances in cancer biology have disclosed an indispensable function of the lymphatic vessel in tumor growth and metastasis. Therefore, understanding the detailed mechanisms governing lymphatic vessel formation and function in pathophysiologic conditions is essential to prevent or treat these diseases. We review the developmental processes of the lymphatic vessels and postnatal lymphatic neovascularization, focusing on the role of recently identified bone marrow-derived podoplanin-expressing (podoplanin(+)) cells as lymphatic endothelial progenitor cells.
淋巴血管系统在维持组织液动态平衡、胃肠道的免疫监视和脂质摄取方面发挥着关键作用。因此，由于遗传缺陷、感染、创伤或手术导致的淋巴管功能障碍会导致淋巴液在组织中异常积聚，最终导致受累组织肿胀，即淋巴水肿。淋巴水肿会导致伤口愈合不良、免疫防御受损，在极少数情况下还会导致淋巴管肉瘤。尽管全世界有数百万的人患有淋巴水肿，但目前尚无有效的治疗方法。此外，癌症生物学的最新进展揭示了淋巴管在肿瘤生长和转移中的不可或缺的作用。因此，了解在病理生理条件下控制淋巴管形成和功能的详细机制对于预防或治疗这些疾病至关重要。我们综述了淋巴管的发育过程和出生后的淋巴管新生，重点介绍了最近发现的骨髓来源的表达 podoplanin 的（podoplanin(+））细胞作为淋巴管内皮祖细胞的作用。
