Active interfacial dynamic transport of fluid in a network of fibrous connective tissues throughout the whole body

• Published in: Cell proliferation Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. e12760 - n/a
• Main Authors: Li, Hongyi, Yin, Yajun, Yang, Chongqing, Chen, Min, Wang, Fang, Ma, Chao, Li, Hua, Kong, Yiya, Ji, Fusui, Hu, Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.02.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Amputation; Animals; Biological Transport - physiology; Biological Transport, Active - physiology; Body fluids; Body weight; Brain research; Cadavers; Circulatory system; Connective Tissue - metabolism; Connective tissues; Extracellular Fluid - metabolism; extracellular matrix; Extracellular Matrix - metabolism; Fibers; Fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Fluids; Humans; interstitial fluid; interstitium; Physiology; Porous materials; Review; Solid surfaces; Transport; vascular circulations; interstitial fluid; interstitium; vascular circulations; extracellular matrix
• ISSN: 0960-7722; 1365-2184
• DOI: 10.1111/cpr.12760

Fluid in interstitial spaces accounts for ~20% of an adult body weight and flows diffusively for a short range. Does it circulate around the body like vascular circulations? This bold conjecture has been debated for decades. As a conventional physiological concept, interstitial space is a micron‐sized space between cells and vasculature. Fluid in interstitial spaces is thought to be entrapped within interstitial matrix. However, our serial data have further defined a second space in interstitium that is a nanosized interfacial transport zone on a solid surface. Within this fine space, fluid along a solid fibre can be transported under a driving power and identically, interstitial fluid transport can be visualized by tracking the oriented fibres. Since 2006, our data from volunteers and cadavers have revealed a long‐distance extravascular pathway for interstitial fluid flow, comprising at least four types of anatomic distributions. The framework of each extravascular pathway contains the longitudinally assembled and oriented fibres, working as a fibrorail for fluid flow. Interestingly, our data showed that the movement of fluid in a fibrous pathway is in response to a dynamic driving source and named as dynamotaxis. By analysis of previous studies and our experimental results, a hypothesis of interstitial fluid circulatory system is proposed.