Lymphatic tissue engineering: progress and prospects.

In the last 5 years major advances have been made in the field of tissue engineering. However, while engineering of tissues from nearly every major system in the body have been studied and improved, little has been done with the engineering of viable lymphatic tissues. Recent advances in understanding of lymphatic biology have allowed the easy isolation of pure lymphatic cell cultures, increasing, in turn, the ability to study lymphatic biology in greater detail. This has allowed the elucidation of lymphatic properties on the structural, cellular, and molecular levels, making possible the successful development of the first lymphatic engineered tissues. Among such advances are the engineering of lymphatic capillaries, the development of a functioning bioreactor designed to culture lymph nodes in vitro, and in vivo growth of lymphatic organoids. However, there has been no research on the engineering of functional lymphangions. While the advances made in the study of lymphatic biology are encouraging, the complexities of the system make the engineering of certain functional lymphatic tissues somewhat more difficult.