We determined the impact of aging on cardiac lymphatics in 18–20-month-old C57Bl/6 mice compared with 3-month-old young mice. Whole-mount staining of cardiac lymphatics with LYVE-1 revealed a substantial decline in lymphatic vasculature coverage in old mouse hearts (Fig. 1a). Consistently, cross-sectional LYVE-1 immunostainings showed a significant reduction in lymphatic vessels in both female and male aged mice (Fig. 1b,c and Extended Data Fig. 1a,b), in agreement with a very recent study13. As tissue-resident macrophages may express LYVE1 as well, we further included CD68 as a macrophage marker. To exclude LYVE1+ macrophages, we quantified CD68-negative LYVE1+ cells, which were less abundant in the aged heart section, thus confirming our findings (Extended Data Fig. 1c). Analysis of spatial transcriptomic data14 confirmed the reduction in lymphatic vessel density by aging in humans (Extended Data Fig. 1d). Lymphatic density declined predominantly in the subendocardial region of the left ventricle, whereas right ventricular lymphatics were preserved in old mice (Fig. 1d and Extended Data Fig. 1e). Epicardial lymphatic vessels additionally showed an enlarged lumen (Fig. 1e), as also has been reported for mesenteric lymphatics in aged rats15. Since LYVE-1 is also expressed by immune cell subpopulations, which may have confounded our analysis, we additionally used...

Learn more about the Sosa-Pineda Lab's research on deciphering the function of the pancreas and liver at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

The dural lymphatics contribute to brain maintenance. Tavares et al. identify a macrophage-dependent refinement of the lymphatic vasculature during normal development. The availability of growth facto...

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) crosses arachnoid fenestrations near the olfactory bulbs to reach dural lymphatics that traverse the cribriform plate, connect to nasal lymphatics, and drain to cervical lymp...

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) crosses arachnoid fenestrations near the olfactory bulbs to reach dural lymphatics that traverse the cribriform plate, connect to nasal lymphatics, and drain to cervical lymp...