PUBLICATION
Brain drains: new insights into brain clearance pathways from lymphatic biology
- Authors
- Bower, N.I., Hogan, B.M.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-180404-7
- Date
- 2018
- Source
- Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany) 96(5): 383-390 (Review)
- Registered Authors
- Hogan, Ben M.
- Keywords
- Central nervous system, Lymphatic vascular system, Tissue interstitial fluid
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Brain/metabolism*
- Endothelial Cells/metabolism
- Glymphatic System/metabolism*
- Humans
- Lymphatic Vessels/metabolism*
- PubMed
- 29610928 Full text @ J. Mol. Med.
Citation
Bower, N.I., Hogan, B.M. (2018) Brain drains: new insights into brain clearance pathways from lymphatic biology. Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany). 96(5):383-390.
Abstract
The lymphatic vasculature act as the drainage system for most of our tissues and organs, clearing interstitial fluid and waste and returning them to the blood circulation. This is not the case for the central nervous system (CNS), which is devoid of parenchymal lymphatic vessels. Nevertheless, the brain is responsible for 25% of the body's metabolism and only compromises 2% of the body's mass. This high metabolic load requires an efficient system to remove waste products and maintain homeostasis. Well-described mechanisms of waste clearance include phagocytic immune cell functions as well as perivascular fluid flow; however, the need for active drainage of waste from the brain is becoming increasingly appreciated. Recent developments in lymphatic vascular biology challenge the proposition that the brain lacks lymphatic drainage or an equivalent. In this review, we describe the roles of the glymphatic system (a key drainage mechanism in the absence of lymphatics), the recently characterized meningeal lymphatic vessels, and explore an enigmatic cell population found in zebrafish called mural lymphatic endothelial cells. These systems may play important individual and collective roles in draining and clearing wastes from the brain.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping