Lu Chen

University of California at San Francisco， USA

Purpose： Lymphatic research represents an explosive field of new discovery owning to the recent identification of several lymphatic specific markers. The cornea provides an ideal tissue for lymphatic studies due to its accessible location， transparent nature， and lymphatic-free and -inducible character. Once induced， corneal lymphangiogenesis enhances high volume delivery of antigens and antigen presenting cells， and accelerates corneal inflammation and transplant rejection. Our long-term goal is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of lymphangiogenesis， a necessary prerequisite to the development of new therapeutic protocols. This presentation summarizes our experimental data on several newly identified lymphatic specific factors.

Method： Corneal suture induced vasculogenesis and transplantation models were used in various wildtype and knockout mice to study specific roles of several lymphatic factors in lymphangiogenesis， immune cell trafficking， and transplant survival.

Results： Molecular blockade of the lymphatic pathway leads to significant suppression of lymphatic responses， immune cell trafficking， and transplant rejection.

Conclusion： Our data support new lymphatic factor-based immunotherapies for corneal inflammation and transplant rejection. Additionally， research on corneal lymphangiogenesis has broader clinical implications， since the lymphatic network penetrates most tissues in the body， and its dysfunctions are involved in a diverse array of disorders including cancer metastasis， diabetics， and delayed would healing， among many others.

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