Saturday, June 06, 2015

The brain's lymphatic vessels - Time to Rewrite the textbooks on neuro-immunology!

Rewrite the textbooks! This has major implications for treating nervous system disease.  - JR

Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels


Nature
 
 
doi:10.1038/nature14432
Received
 
Accepted
 
Published online
 
One of the characteristics of the central nervous system is the lack of a classical lymphatic drainage system. Although it is now accepted that the central nervous system undergoes constant immune surveillance that takes place within the meningeal compartment123, the mechanisms governing the entrance and exit of immune cells from the central nervous system remain poorly understood456. In searching for T-cell gateways into and out of the meninges, we discovered functional lymphatic vessels lining the dural sinuses. These structures express all of the molecular hallmarks of lymphatic endothelial cells, are able to carry both fluid and immune cells from the cerebrospinal fluid, and are connected to the deep cervical lymph nodes. The unique location of these vessels may have impeded their discovery to date, thereby contributing to the long-held concept of the absence of lymphatic vasculature in the central nervous system. The discovery of the central nervous system lymphatic system may call for a reassessment of basic assumptions in neuroimmunology and sheds new light on the aetiology of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases associated with immune system dysfunction.

1 comment:

Vanessa Wooten said...

I believe that is directly related to ROHHAD ( Rapid-onset obesity With Hypoventilation and Hypothalamic and Autonomic Dysfunction )