Characteristics and advances in signaling pathways, cellular communication, cell junctions, and oxidative stress in lymphedema

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Lymphedema is a chronic inflammatory disease without an effective treatment method, and it results in a high disease burden and psychological distress in patients. Although there have been significant advances in targeted therapies, there are still no effective options to treat this refractory disease. In recent years, new advances and breakthroughs have been made in signaling pathways, including RAS/MAPK, PI3K/AKT, VEGF-C/VEGFR-3, HGF/MET, and TGF-β1, which are important for understanding the pathogenesis and disease progression of lymphedema. Mutations in genes encoding cell junctions affect the formation of junctions in lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs), causing abnormal lymphatic valve development and the impairment of lymphatic vessels. A vicious cycle of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation of lymphatic vessels leads to lymphedema. Moreover, the interactions and information communication of T-cell subsets, neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells (DCs), and fibroblasts with LECs play equally important roles in the progression of lymphedema. Therefore, this paper summarizes the reported signaling pathways, cell junctions, oxidative stress, and cell communication involved in lymphedema, with the goal of providing ideas and a basis for understanding the pathogenesis, disease progression and targeted therapy of lymphedema. By integrating current findings on signaling d

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.