Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T23:42:43.313Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tissue Micro-channels Formed by Collagen Fibers and their Internal Components: Cellular Evidence of Proposed Meridian Conduits in Vertebrate Skin

Part of: Micrographia Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2020

Bai Xuebing ,
Wu Ruizhi ,
Zhang Yue ,
Liang Chunhua ,
Shi Yonghong ,
Zhang Yingxin ,
Ding Baitao ,
Imran Tarique ,
Yang Ping  and
Chen Qiusheng Open the ORCID record for Chen Qiusheng [Opens in a new window]
Bai Xuebing
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Wu Ruizhi
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Zhang Yue
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Liang Chunhua
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Shi Yonghong
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Zhang Yingxin
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Ding Baitao
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Imran Tarique
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Yang Ping
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
Chen Qiusheng*
Affiliation:
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province210095, China
*
*Author for correspondence: Chen Qiusheng, E-mail: chenqsh305@njau.edu.cn
Get access

Abstract

In order to clarify fine structures of the hypothetical meridian conduits of Chinese traditional medicine (CTM) in the skin, the present study used light and transmission electron microscopy to examine fasciae in different vertebrate species. Collagen fiber bundles and layers were arranged in a crisscross pattern, which developed into a special tissue micro-channel (TMC) network, in a manner that was analogs to the proposed skin meridian conduits. It was further revealed that tissue fluid in lateral TMC branches drained into wide longitudinal channels, which were distinctly different from lymphatic capillary. Mast cells, macrophages, and extracellular vesicles such as ectosomes and exosomes were distributed around telocytes (TCs) and their long processes (Telopodes, Tps) within the TMC. Cell junctions between TCs developed, which could enable the communication between contiguous but distant Tps. On the other hand, winding free Tps without cell junctions were also uncovered inside the TMC. Tissue fluid, cell junctions of TCs, mast cells, macrophages, and extracellular vesicles within the TMC corresponded to the circulating “气血” (“Qi-Xue”, i.e., information, message, and energy) of meridian conduits at the cytological level. These results could provide morphological evidence for the hypothesis that “meridians are the conduit for Qi-Xue circulation” in CTM.

Keywords

Chinese traditional medicinecollagen fibermeridian conduittelocytetissue micro-channel
Type
Micrographia
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 26 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 1069 - 1075
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

References

Agnati, LF & Fuxe, K (2014). Extracellular-vesicle type of volume transmission and tunnelling-nanotube type of wiring transmission add a new dimension to brain neuro-glial networks. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 369, 1652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alberts, B (2008). Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th ed. New York: Garland Publishing Inc. pp. 28–36.Google Scholar
Aukland, K (1984). Distribution of body fluids: Local mechanisms guarding interstitial fluid volume. J Physiol (Paris) 79, 395–400.Google ScholarPubMed
Benias, PC, Wells, RG, Sackey-Aboagye, B, Klavan, H, Reidy, J, Buonocore, D, Miranda, M, Kornacki, S, Wayne, M, Carr-Locke, D & Theise, ND (2018). Structure and distribution of an unrecognized interstitium in human tissues. Sci Rep 8, 4947.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bjelke, B, England, R, Nicholson, C, Rice, ME, Lindberg, J, Zoli, M, Agnati, LF & Fuxe, K (1995). Long distance pathways of diffusion for dextran along fibre bundles in brain: Relevance for volume transmission. Neuroreport 6(7), 1005–1009.10.1097/00001756-199505090-00014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borroto-Escuela, DO, Agnati, LF, Bechter, K, Jansson, A, Tarakanov, AO & Fuxe, K (2015). The role of transmitter diffusion and flow versus extracellular vesicles in volume transmission in the brain neural-glial networks. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 370, 1672.10.1098/rstb.2014.0183CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cretoiu, D, Cretoiu, SM, Simionescu, AA & Popescu, LM (2012). Telocytes, a distinct type of cell among the stromal cells present in the lamina propria of jejunum. Histol Histopathol 27, 1067–1078.Google ScholarPubMed
Du, QJ, Zhang, HT, Li, FS, Meng, WH & Zheng, LY (2006). Analysis of meridian essence and discussion of human life network. Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion 26(Supplement 1), 106–108. [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Edelatein, L, Fuxe, K, Levin, M, Popescu, BO & Smythies, J (2016). Telocytes in their context with other intercellular communication agents. Semin Cell Dev Biol 55, 9–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fertig, ET, Gherghiceanu, M & Popescu, LM (2014). Extracellular vesicles release by cardiac telocytes: Electron microscopy and electron tomography. J Cell Mol Med 18(10), 1938–1943.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fuxe, K, Dahlström, A, Höistad, M, Marcellino, D, Jansson, A, Rivera, A, Diaz-Cabiale, Z, Jacobsen, K, Tinner-Staines, B, Hagman, B, Leo, G, Staines, W, Guidolin, D, Kehr, J, Genedani, S, Natale, B & Agnati, L (2007). From the Golgi-Cajal mapping to the transmitter-based characterization of the neuronal networks leading to two modes of brain communication: Wiring and volume transmission. Brain Res Rev 55, 17–54.10.1016/j.brainresrev.2007.02.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jan, D (2015). Functional atlas of the human fascial system. J Bodyw Mov Ther 19(4), 679–680.Google Scholar
Jiang, ZJ & Yao, CP (2019). Cardiovascular disease electronic. J Integr Tradit Chin West Med 7(24), 36–41. [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Joanna, D, Natalia, M, Sylwia, S & Krzysztof, M (2016). Chapter 26, Telocytes of fascial structures. In Telocytes-connecting Cells. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol. 913, Wang, X & Cretoiu, D (Eds.), pp. 403–424. Singapore: Springer Nature Press.Google Scholar
Kumka, M & Bonar, J (2012). Fascia: A morphological description and classification system based on a literature review. J Can Chiropr Assoc 56(3), 179–191.Google ScholarPubMed
Nedergaard, M (2013). Neuroscience. Garbage truck of the brain. Science 340(6140), 1529–1530.10.1126/science.1240514CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Popescu, LM & Faussone-Pellegrini, MS (2010). Telocytes—A case of serendipity: The winding way from interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), via interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLC) to telocytes. J Cell Mol Med 14(4), 729–740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schleip, R, Klingler, W & Lehmann-Horn, F (2005). Active fascial contractility: Fascia may be able to contract in a smooth muscle-like manner and thereby influence musculoskeletal dynamics. Med Hypotheses 65(2), 273–277.10.1016/j.mehy.2005.03.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shi, YH, Wu, RZ, Zhang, Y, Bai, XB, Imran, T, Liang, CH, Yang, P & Chen, QS (2020). Telocytes in different organs of vertebrates: Potential essence cells of the meridian in Chinese traditional medicine. Microsc Microanal 26(3), 575–588.Google Scholar
Simons, M & Raposo, G (2009). Exosomes-vesicular carriers for intercellular communication. Curr Opin Cell Biol 21(4), 575–581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smythies, J & Edelstein, L (2014). Telocytes, exosomes, gap junctions and the cytoskeleton: The makings of a primitive nervous system? Front Cell Neurosci 7, 278.10.3389/fncel.2013.00278CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xie, HR (2002). Study on Qi-passage of meridians and collaterals. Chin Acupunct Moxibustion 22(9), 24–27. [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Xie, HR (2003). Meridians and acupoints are composed of interstitial substances. Chin Acupunct Moxibustion 23(8), 27–29. [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Xie, HR, Li, FC & Ma, XS (2007). Discussion on the essence of meridian-collateral system. Acupunct Res 32(3), 210–213. [in Chinese].Google ScholarPubMed
Xie, HR, Li, FC & Zhang, WB (2009). Observation and analysis on the meridian-collateral running track-related anatomical structure in the human body. Acupunct Res 34(3), 202–206. [in Chinese].Google ScholarPubMed
Zhang, WB (2012). Meridian and health. People's Health Press 40–64, 174–193. [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Zhang, Y, Ma, C, Wang, Z, Zhou, Q, Sun, S, Ma, P, et al. (2020). Large-sized graphene oxide synergistically enhances parenchymal hepatocyte IL-6 expression monitored by dynamic imaging. Nanoscale 12(15), 8147–8158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhuang, M, Du, D, Pu, L, Song, H, Deng, M, Long, Q, Yin, XF, Wang, YY & Rao, L (2019). SPION—Decorated exosome delivered BAY55-9837 targeting the pancreas through magnetism to improve the blood GLC response. Small 15(52), e1903135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed