title: Cardiac Lymphatics - A New Avenue for Therapeutics?
abstract: Recent progress in lymphatic vessel biology and in novel imaging techniques has established the importance of the lymphatic vasculature as part of the cardiovascular system. The lymphatic vessel network regulates many physiological processes important for heart function such as fluid balance, transport of extravasated proteins, and trafficking of immune cells. Therefore, lymphangiogenic therapy could be beneficial in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, for example by improving reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) from atherosclerotic lesions or by resolving edema and fibrosis after myocardial infarction. In this review we first describe recent findings on the development and function of cardiac lymphatic vessels, and subsequently focus on the prospects of pro- and anti-lymphangiogenic therapies in cardiovascular diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: Taina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vuorio
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: Annakaisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tirronen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland; Heart Center and Gene Therapy Unit, Kuopio University Hospital, PO Box 1777, 70211 Kuopio, Finland. Electronic address: seppo.ylaherttuala@uef.fi.
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ylä-Herttuala
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001692:Biological Transport; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D042601:Lymphatic Vessels / Q000378:metabolism*; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: atherosclerosis; cardiac lymphatic vessels; myocardial infarction; reverse cholesterol transport; therapeutics