Author Spotlight: Innovative Methods in Lymphedema and Hypertension Research

We study mechanisms of lymph vessel contractions, and lymph flow to better understand the underlying pathology of cancer-related lymphedema, as well as the connection between the lymphatic system and hypertension. Our goal is to identify therapeutic targets within the lymphatic vasculature so that we can develop novel treatments for lymphatic diseases. Recent discoveries of different ang channels in lymphatic muscle and endothelial cells, which contribute to the underlying calcium dynamics have proved instrumental in moving the field forward.

Isolated vessels and intravital microscope have been crucial techniques for studying lymphatic vessel functions. More recently, there has been an upward trend of using organ on a chip and micro-fabricated vessels to investigate many aspects of lymphatic biology. The very small tissue size challenges, studying the lymphatic vasculature, requiring a lot of time, patience, and the development of new technologies.

The unavailability of lymphatic muscle cell specific markers is another hurdle for the whole scientific community. The advantage of this protocol is the ability to measure lymphatic contractions and absolute calcium concentrations within the same vessel. This provides additional insight into calcium signaling, mechanisms of contraction, as well as the ability to measure baseline comparisons between treatment groups.

Compared to other techniques that maybe rely on relative changes in calcium or paralyzed vessels.