KITAHARA Shuji
   Department   Research Institutes and Facilities, Research Institutes and Facilities
   Position   Associate Professor (Fixed Term)
Article types Original article
Language English
Peer review Peer reviewed
Title Local lymphogenic migration pathway in normal mouse spleen.
Journal Formal name：Cell and tissue research
Abbreviation：Cell Tissue Res
ISSN code：14320878/0302766X
Domestic / ForeginForegin
Volume, Issue, Page 338(3),pp.423-32
Author and coauthor Shimizu Kazuhiko, Morikawa Shunichi, Kitahara Shuji, Ezaki Taichi
Publication date 2009/12
Summary Although the immunological and hemodynamical significance of the spleen is of great importance, few reports detail the lymphatic vessels in this organ. We have used an immunohistochemical three-dimensional imaging technique to characterize lymphatic vessels in the normal mouse spleen and have successfully demonstrated their spatial relationship to the blood vascular system for the first time. Lymphatic markers, such as LYVE-1, VEGFR-3, and podoplanin, show different staining patterns depending on their location in the spleen. LYVE-1-positive lymphatic vessels run reverse to the arterial blood flow along the central arteries in the white pulp and trabecular arteries and exit the spleen from the hilum. These lymphatic vessels are surrounded by type IV collagen, indicating that they are collecting lymphatic vessels rather than lymphatic capillaries. Podoplanin is expressed not only in lymphatic vessels, but also in stromal cells in the white pulp. These podoplanin-positive cells form fine meshworks surrounding the lymphatic vessels and central arteries. Following intravenous transplantation of lymphocytes positive for green fluorescent protein (GFP(+)) into normal recipient mice, donor cells appear in the meshworks within 1 h and accumulate in the lymphatic vessels within 6 h after injection. The GFP(+) cells further accumulate in a draining celiac lymph node through the efferent lymphatic vessels from the hilum. These meshworks might therefore act as an extravascular lymphatic pathway and, together with ordinary lymphatic vessels, play a primary role in the cell traffic of the spleen, additional to the blood circulatory system.
DOI 10.1007/s00441-009-0888-5
PMID 19898873