Research
Our group performs research at the crossroads of immunology and vascular biology. Specifically, we study the role of lymphatic vessels in inflammation and in immunity. Lymphatic vessels are important for draining fluids from tissues and also for the induction of immune responses in draining lymph nodes. However, in comparison to blood vessels, the lymphatic network has been less well studied.
The migration of leukocytes from peripheral tissues via afferent lymphatic vessels to draining lymph nodes essentially contributes to the functioning of the immune system. A good example illustrating the importance of this process is vaccination, which is considered to be one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century: Upon injection of a vaccine into a peripheral tissue like the skin, antigen-presenting dendritic cells take up the antigen, mature and start to migrate via afferent lymphatic vessels to draining lymph nodes, where they present the antigen to T cells for the induction of adaptive immune responses.
Similar to blood vessels, also the lymphatic vascular system undergoes proliferative expansion (i.e. lymphangiogenesis) and remodeling during pathologic conditions like chronic inflammation and thereby actively participates in the progression or resolution of the disease. Modulation of lymphangiogenesis and of lymphatic vessel function, in particular of dendritic cell migration and lymphatic drainage, could be an attractive therapeutic strategy for a number of medical conditions: While an enhancement of dendritic cell migration to draining lymph nodes could be used for boosting vaccinations, preventing this process could prove effective in suppressing organ transplant rejection. Moreover, enhancement of lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic drainage function could be a novel approach for reducing edema formation in the context of lymphedema, but also in chronic inflammation.
For further reading please check our recent reviews:
Dendritic cell migration through lymphatic vessels:
Russo et al. external pageLymphatic Res. Biol. 2013
Teijeira et al. external pageSemin Immunopathol. 2014
Inflammatory lymphangiogenesis:
Aebischer et al., external pageAngiogenesis 2014