AN IMMUNOLOGICAL CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ANCHORING FILAMENTS OF INITIAL LYMPH VESSELS AND THE NEIGHBORING ELASTIC FIBERS - A UNIFIED MORPHOFUNCTIONAL CONCEPT

Little has been published on the histochemical and cytochemical proper ties of anchoring filaments of initial lymph vessels. Previous researc h suggests that the microfibrils of the anchoring filaments have ultra structural, histochemical and cytochemical characteristics similar to those of the microfibrils associated with elastic fibers. With the aim of further investigating the histological identity of anchoring filam ents, we performed an immunohistochemical study with human skin lympha tics, using antibody HB8, specific for elastic fiber microfibrils. The findings suggested strong molecular similarities between elastic fibe rs and the fibrils of anchoring filaments of the initial lymph vessels . A comparison of these fibrils showed both constitutional homogeneity and structural continuity from the abluminal surface of the initial l ymph vessel to the perivascular elastic fibers and to the adjacent ela stic network of connective tissue. In conjunction with previous findin gs, we propose a unified hypothesis that the elastic fiber system comp osed of anchoring filaments, perilymphatic sheath and adjacent connect ive tissue acts by alternating stretching and relaxation to propel lym ph towards lymph collectors and draining lymph nodes.