Tag Archive for 'Milky spot' | Sci.News

Structure of milky spots in the omentum. (A) schematic of whole omentum in mice; the omentum is a thin strip of fat (yellow) that is covered by a layer of mesothelial cells (green); milky spots (MSs, blue) are located just beneath the mesothelial layer embedded between adipocytes; the omentum is well vascularized with an extensive network of capillaries (not shown), which connect to a large central blood vessel (red), running between the adipocytes; blood vessels also connect to the MSs and form a glomerulus-like knot of blood vessels in the lymphoid clusters; a large central lymphatic vessel (light blue) runs down the center of the omentum and branches from this vessel lead to MSs as well as to areas of the omentum that lack MSs; the human omentum is much larger and resembles an apron hanging in front of the abdomen, but also contains MSs. (B) structure of MS; MSs are loose collections of leukocytes embedded between adipocytes (yellow) just beneath the mesothelial layer (green); B cells (blue) form a central cluster, whereas macrophages (brown) and dendritic cells (light green) tend to accumulate around the outside of the MS and are also found individually throughout the omentum; T cells (green circles) and ILCs (orange) can be intermixed with the B cells or may cluster around blood vessels (not shown); cells and antigens are passively collected from the peritoneal cavity through fenestrations in the mesothelial layer by fluid flow or may be actively carried by phagocytic cells like macrophages; cells can also enter the MSs from the blood through HEVs (not shown). Image credit: Selene Meza-Perez & Troy D. Randall, doi: 10.1016/j.it.2017.03.002.

Omentum Performs Unique Immunological Functions

Jun 2, 2017 by News Staff

The omentum is an important immune organ that serves as a first line of defense against toxins and infection, according to a review paper published online...