Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology
Open Access

Abstract

The Peripheral Lymphatics as an Active Player in the Immune Response

David G Hancock, Tessa M Potezny and Patrick M White

The lymphatics system has many diverse roles in the human body. These range from regulating fluid balance and fatty acid transport to serving as a conduit for leukocyte entry into lymphoid organs. While stromal cell populations are becoming increasingly recognised as important components of the immune response, the peripheral lymphatics are still commonly perceived as a passive conduit for immune cells. In contrast to this paradigm, the lymphatics are capable of responding to a wide range of pathogenic stimuli and secondary immune mediators, activating diverse, functional and stimulus dependant programs to these, with subsequent regulation of the effector function of multiple immune cell populations. In this review, we highlight papers that support the peripheral lymphatics as a crucial and active player in the immune response. We also interpret this evidence in the context of human disease pathogenesis and the potential for lymphatic-targeted therapeutic interventions.