REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1593630
This article is part of the Research TopicNeuroinflammation, Neurodegeneration, and Auditory-Vestibular DisordersView all 11 articles
Role of meningeal lymphatic vessels in brain homeostasis
Provisionally accepted
Meng-Ying Zhao*
Chao-Yuan Ye
Yuancheng Liu
Xiao-Ming WangJun-Cai FuXin-Yuan LiuRui ZhuYi-Zhao Li
Qing Tian*- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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Meningeal lymphatic vessels (MLVs) form an important bridging structure between the brain and periphery, which drains cerebral metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain antigens to deep cervical lymph nodes (dCLNs), to maintain brain homeostasis. Increasing evidence reveals the importance of MLVs in brain ageing and various central nervous system (CNS) diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Advances in research techniques have provided detailed insights into the structure and functions of MLVs, highlighting the therapeutic potential of targeting MLVs for related diseases.Here, we perform a systematic review of the features and functional regulation of MLVs, their associations with brain disorders, as well as some methodological advances in imaging of MLVs and the drainage pathway.
Keywords: Meningeal lymphatic vessels, Brain homeostasis, Cerebrospinal fluid drainage, Neuroinflammation, neurological disorders, Imaging technique
Received: 14 Mar 2025; Accepted: 04 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Ye, Liu, Wang, Fu, Liu, Zhu, Li and Tian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Meng-Ying Zhao, Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Qing Tian, Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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