AN IMMUNOLOGICAL CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ANCHO RING FILAM ENTS OF INITIAL LYM PH VESSELS AND THE NEIGHBORING ELASTIC FIBERS: A UNIFIED MOR PHOFUNCTIONAL CONCEPT

Abstract

Little has been published on the histochemical and cytochemical properties of anchoringfilaments of initial lymph vessels. Previous research suggests that the microfibrils of theanchoring filaments have ultrastructural, histochemical and cytochemical characteristicssimilar to those of the microfibrils associated with elastic fibers. With the aim of furtherinvestigating the histological identity of anchoring filaments, we performed animmunohistochemical study with human skin lymphatics, using antibody HB8, specific forelastic fiber microfibrils. The findings suggested strong molecular similarities between elasticfibers and the fibrils of anchoring filaments of the initial lymph vessels. A comparison of thesefibrils showed both constitutional homogeneity and structural continuity from the abluminalsurface of the initial lymph vessel to the perivascular elastic fibers and to the adjacent elasticnetwork of connective tissue. In conjunction with previous findings, we propose a unifiedhypothesis that the elastic fiber system composed of anchoring filaments, perilymphaticsheath and adjacent connective tissue acts by alternating stretching and relaxation to propellymph towards lymph collectors and draining lymph nodes.