# Cardiac Lymphatics in Development and Repair

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2020 · $583,072

## Abstract

Project Abstract
 Lymphatic vessels serve an essential function in maintaining interstitial fluid balance
throughout the body. Functional disruption of lymphatic vessels by either surgery,
radiation/chemotherapy or organ damage results in pathological lymphedema and subsequent
interstitial fibrous deposition and inflammation. The heart contains a dense network of lymphatic
vessels that exhibit coordinated flow with each contraction of the myocardium. Recent studies,
including our own, have revealed a critical role for cardiac lymphatics in cardiac repair and
maintenance of cardiac function following acute myocardial edema. Several groundbreaking
studies have furthermore shown that cardiac lymphatics arise from at least 4 different progenitor
cell populations, thereby illustrating their distinct and pleiotropic regulation during development
and conditions of remodeling and repair. We have also discovered a significant increase in the
number of cardiac lymphatics of female mice, compared to age-matched male mice, which could
be the basis underlying some forms of cardioprotection in women. Therefore, the overall goal of
this research proposal is to develop sophisticated cell based systems and genetic mouse model
tools to address the function and modulation of cardiac lymphatic vessels in males and females
and during different stages of development and repair. Based on our expertise in lymphatic vessel
biology and our interest in the cardioprotective functions of adrenomedullin peptide, we feel that
we are uniquely well-positioned to address several intriguing hypotheses. Results from our
studies will provide conceptually novel insights into the largely unexplored role of cardiac
lymphatic vessels in heart development, injury and sex-dependent cardioprotection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10072491
- **Project number:** 2R01HL129086-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Kathleen M Caron
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $583,072
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-04-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10072491

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10072491, Cardiac Lymphatics in Development and Repair (2R01HL129086-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10072491. Licensed CC0.

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