Lymphatic 'Scavengers' Discovered in Brain Cells
University of Queensland scientists discovered a new type of lymphatic brain “scavenger” cell by studying tropical freshwater zebrafish — which share many of the same cell types and organs as humans.
Lead researcher Associate Professor Ben Hogan from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience said the fundamental discovery would help scientists understand how the brain forms and functions.
“It is rare to discover a cell type in the brain that we didn’t know about previously, and particularly a cell type that we didn’t expect to be there,” he said.
“The brain is the only organ without a known lymphatic system, so the fact that these cells are lymphatic in nature and surround the brain makes this finding quite a surprise.
“These cells appear to be the zebrafish version of cells described in humans called “mato” or lipid laden cells, which clear fats and lipids from the system but were not known to be lymphatic in nature.
“When wastes such as excess fats leak out of the bloodstream, it is the job of the lymphatic system to clean them out to avoid damaging our organs.”
“Mural lymphatic endothelial cells regulate meningeal angiogenesis in the zebrafish” by Neil I Bower, Katarzyna Koltowska, Cathy Pichol-Thievend, Isaac Virshup, Scott Paterson, Anne K Lagendijk, Weili Wang, Benjamin W Lindsey, Stephen J Bent, Sungmin Baek, Maria Rondon-Galeano, Daniel G Hurley, Naoki Mochizuki, Cas Simons, Mathias Francois, Christine A Wells, Jan Kaslin & Benjamin M Hogan in Nature Neuroscience. Published online May 1 2017 doi:10.1038/nn.4558
