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Review
. 2023 Nov 16;19(5):37-46.
doi: 10.14797/mdcvj.1286. eCollection 2023.

Role of Lymphangiogenesis in Cardiac Repair and Regeneration

Affiliations
Review

Role of Lymphangiogenesis in Cardiac Repair and Regeneration

Zhongyun Xu et al. Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. .

Abstract

This article highlights the importance of the structure and function of cardiac lymphatics in cardiovascular diseases and the therapeutic potential of cardiac lymphangiogenesis. Specifically, we explore the innate lymphangiogenic response to damaged cardiac tissue or cardiac injury, derive key findings from regenerative models demonstrating how robust lymphangiogenic responses can be supported to improve cardiac function, and introduce an approach to imaging the structure and function of cardiac lymphatics.

Keywords: cardiac lymphangiogenesis; cardiac lymphatic structure; lymphatic visualization.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Structure and function of cardiac lymphatic system. A) 3D reconstruction after CT B) illustration of cardiac lymphatic system C) transverse section
Figure 1
Structure and function of cardiac lymphatic vessels. (A) Three-dimensional reconstruction after cardiac computed tomography (CT) scanning showing both anterior and posterior view of the human heart. The red arrow indicates lymph nodes. (B) Illustration showing the distribution pattern of cardiac lymphatic system in the human heart. (C) Transverse section of the heart showing subendocardial, subepicardial, and myocardial plexus of cardiac lymphatics.
Murine cardiac lymphatics imaging
Figure 2
Visualization of endogenous tdTomato (red) fluorescence of hearts from Lyve1-Cre; Rosa26-tdTomato mice. Scar bar: 1 mm.

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