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Theranostics 2022; 12(3):1117-1131. doi:10.7150/thno.66026 This issue Cite

Review

Modulation of lymphatic transport in the central nervous system

Wenzhong Li¹, Dawei Chen¹, Nan Liu², Yongxin Luan¹, Shoujun Zhu^3,4✉, Haifeng Wang^1✉

1. Department of Neurosurgery, The first hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, P.R. China
2. Department of Anesthesiology, The first hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, P.R. China
3. Joint Laboratory of Opto-Functional Theranostics in Medicine and Chemistry, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, P.R. China
4. State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P.R. China

✉ Corresponding authors: Shoujun Zhu, sjzhuedu.cn; Haifeng Wang, hfwangedu.cn.

Abstract

Over the past decade, repeated studies demonstrated that the vertebrate brain had a specialized lymphatic transport pathway, which overturned the traditional concept of central nervous system (CNS) immune privilege. Despite the lack of lymphatic vessels, the glymphatic system and the meningeal lymphatic vessels provide a unique pathway for solutes transport and metabolites clearance in the brain. Sleep, circadian rhythm, arterial pulsation, and other physiological factors modulate this specialized lymphatic drainage pathway. It has also changed significantly under pathological conditions. These modulatory mechanisms may arise critical targets for the therapeutic of CNS disorders. This review highlights the latest research progress on the modulation of lymphatic transport in the CNS under physiological and pathological conditions. Furthermore, we examined the possible upstream and downstream relation networks between these regulatory mechanisms.

Keywords: central nervous system, glymphatic system, lymphatic vessels, regulation, sleep

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