Dichotomous effects on lymphatic transport with loss of caveolae in mice.

Aim: Fluid and macromolecule transport from the interstitium into and through lymphatic vessels is necessary for tissue homeostasis. While lymphatic capillary structure suggests that passive, paracellular transport would be the predominant route of macromolecule entry, active caveolae-mediated transcellular transport has been identified in lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) in vitro. Caveolae also mediate a wide array of endothelial cell processes, including nitric oxide regulation.

Medicine in Extreme Environments: A New Medical Student Elective Class for Wilderness, Aerospace, Hyperbaric, Exercise, and Combat Medicine.

We developed an elective course titled Medicine in Extreme Environments (MEE) at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for first- and second-year medical students. This course covered physiology, research, clinical practice, and career guidance regarding the fields of wilderness, space, hyperbaric, combat, and exercise medicine. The primary aim was to generate interest in and awareness of these seldom covered fields of medicine by exposing medical students to these disciplines during their preclinical years.

Lymphangiogenesis: fuel, smoke, or extinguisher of inflammation's fire?

Lymphangiogenesis is a recognized hallmark of inflammatory processes in tissues and organs as diverse as the skin, heart, bowel, and airways. In clinical and animal models wherein the signaling processes of lymphangiogenesis are manipulated, most studies demonstrate that an expanded lymphatic vasculature is necessary for the resolution of inflammation. The fundamental roles that lymphatics play in fluid clearance and immune cell trafficking from the periphery make these results seemingly obvious as a mechanism of alleviating locally inflamed environments: the lymphatics are simply providing a drain.