Figure 1
Afferent lymph vessels from the caecum, ascending colon, and small intestine are anatomically linked to distinct regions of mouse mesenteric lymph nodes. Mesentery of Prox1-GFP mice were observed with a fluorescence stereoscopic microscope. (a) Bright field (small image), fluorescence channel (large image). Afferent lymph vessels from the terminal ileum, caecum, and ascending colon linked to distal part of mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN; red box), vessels from the jejunum and ileum linked to middle and proximal part of MLN (blue box), and vessels from the transverse colon connected to colic LN (yellow box), (b–d) Fluorescence (left panel) and lymphography (center and right panels) images are shown. Patent blue was injected to caecum (center panel) and ascending colon (right panel) (b), ileum (c), and transverse colon (d). Yellow arrows indicate afferent lymph vessels. Red arrows indicate injection sites of patent blue dye. White circles indicate patent blue-stained regions in MLN. Data are representative of at least three independent experiments. (e) Diagram of lymph drainage and cell migration data from gut to mesenteric lymph nodes in mice. Distal part of MLN (dMLN) is indicated in yellow. Middle part of MLN (mMLN) is indicated in pale blue. Proximal part of MLN is indicated in pink. Colic LN is indicated in purple.
