Lymphatic system articles from across Nature Portfolio

The eye and the brain are both recognized as immune-privileged sites. Research now indicates that responses in the eye mirror those in the central nervous system (CNS), offering major implications for the treatment of CNS cancers and infections.

A study provides evidence for a shared lymphatic circuit that connects the posterior eye and the brain, allowing the generation of immune responses to protect the CNS against pathogens and tumours following intravitreal immunization.

Perivascular macrophages (pvMs) are important for brain drainage and immune regulation. Here the authors analyse various reporter mouse strains for finer mapping of pvM subsets and lineage differentiation, and propose CX3CR1negative and CD45low as additional markers of intermediate pvMs for studying this heterogenous population.

The eye and the brain are both recognized as immune-privileged sites. Research now indicates that responses in the eye mirror those in the central nervous system (CNS), offering major implications for the treatment of CNS cancers and infections.

Cerebrospinal fluid is now thought to drain through lymphatics instead of veins, but the routes the fluid takes from the subarachnoid space to cervical lymph nodes are unclear. Using advanced imaging, a recent study provides unprecedented anatomical details of lymphatic vessels draining cerebrospinal fluid along the nasopharynx.

Inhibition of adrenergic receptors following a traumatic brain injury reduces cerebral oedema and inflammation by restoring fluid efflux through the glymphatic and lymphatic systems.