ArticleThe Journal of clinical investigation2015
Intravital imaging of intestinal lacteals unveils lipid drainage through contractility.
Article in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 113 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lymphatic Endothelial Cells in Health and Disease.MedComm · 2026Review
- Quantification of Lacteal Contractility by Live Intravital Imaging.Microcirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994) · 2026Article
- Eosinophils promote a second wave of postnatal smooth muscle differentiation in intestinal villi.The Journal of cell biology · 2026Article
- Molecular biology of targeting lymphangiogenesis in cancer: Therapeutic strategies and future promise.Fundamental research · 2026Review
- Elucidating the role ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Intravital imaging of pulmonary lymphatics in inflammation and metastatic cancer.The Journal of experimental medicine · 2025Article
- Transport functions of intestinal lymphatic vessels.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Review
- Activation of VEGFR3 and MLC2 are Critical for GLP-2 Enhancement of Chylomicron Transport.Gastro hep advances · 2025Article
- Rapid Replenishment of Phylloquinone in the Plasma and Liver Using Hyaluronan-Based Nanocapsules Reverses Endothelial Dysfunction in Mice.Nanotechnology, science and applications · 2025Article
- Intravital imaging of pulmonary lymphatics in inflammation and metastatic cancer.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Role of the afferent lymph as an immunological conduit to analyze tissue antigenic and inflammatory load.Cell reports · 2024Article
- Villus myofibroblasts are developmental and adult progenitors of mammalian gut lymphatic musculature.Developmental cell · 2024Article
- Microbial-Dependent Recruitment of Immature Myeloid Cells Promotes Intestinal Regeneration.Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and hepatology · 2024Article
- 2-Monoacylglycerol Mimetic Liposomes to Promote Intestinal Lymphatic Transport for Improving Oral Bioavailability of Dihydroartemisinin.International journal of nanomedicine · 2024Article
- GLP-2 regulation of intestinal lipid handling.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Review
- Glucagon-Like-Peptide-2 Stimulates Lacteal Contractility and Enhances Chylomicron Transport in the Presence of an Intact Enteric Nervous System.Gastro hep advances · 2024Article
- Mechanisms and functions of intestinal vascular specialization.The Journal of experimental medicine · 2024Review
- Biomechanical control of lymphatic vessel physiology and functions.Cellular & molecular immunology · 2023Review
- A 3D Human Lymphatic Vessel-on-Chip Reveals the Roles of Interstitial Flow and VEGF-A/C for Lymphatic Sprouting and Discontinuous Junction Formation.Cellular and molecular bioengineering · 2023Article
- Intestinal Lymphatic Dysfunction in Kidney Disease.Circulation research · 2023Review
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Lacteals are lymphatic vessels located at the center of each intestinal villus and provide essential transport routes for lipids and other lipophilic molecules. However, it is unclear how absorbed molecules are transported through the lacteal. Here, we used reporter mice that express GFP under the control of the lymphatic-specific promoter Prox1 and a custom-built confocal microscope and performed intravital real-time visualization of the absorption and transport dynamics of fluorescence-tagged fatty acids (FAs) and various exogenous molecules in the intestinal villi in vivo. These analyses clearly revealed transepithelial absorption of these molecules via enterocytes, diffusive distribution over the lamina propria, and subsequent transport through lacteals. Moreover, we observed active contraction of lacteals, which seemed to be directly involved in dietary lipid drainage. Our analysis revealed that the smooth muscles that surround each lacteal are responsible for contractile dynamics and that lacteal contraction is ultimately controlled by the autonomic nervous system. These results indicate that the lacteal is a unique organ-specific lymphatic system and does not merely serve as a passive conduit but as an active pump that transports lipids. Collectively, using this efficient imaging method, we uncovered drainage of absorbed molecules in small intestinal villus lacteals and the involvement of lacteal contractibility.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.