LYMPHATIC G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTORS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE

The lymphatic vasculature is unidirectional vascular system that functions to transport lymph throughout the body, shuttle immune cells, contribute to the immune response, absorb dietary lipids from the small intestine, and maintain fluid homeostasis. Lymphatic vessels are uniquely adapted to the independent microenvironments in which they are located and the lymphatic vasculature plays an active role in the pathophysiology of the tissues the vessels reside in. Though the lymphatic system has been the subject of study for centuries, there is still much to learn about how the lymphatic vasculature contributes to pathophysiology. There are also currently no approved therapeutics that target directly target the lymphatic vasculature. The history, current body of knowledge, and the current state of lymphatic specific therapeutics are explored in depth in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2 a hence uncharacterized lymphatic enriched G protein-coupled receptor is identified and its function in the lymphatic vasculature is interrogated. In Chapter 3 the role of the recently re-discovered meningeal lymphatic vessels are interrogated in CGRP-mediated migraine pathophysiology. The findings from this body of work are summarized and applied to the current state of the field in Chapter 4.