科學(xué)家在人身上發(fā)現(xiàn)了新器官

聽說過interstitium（剛發(fā)表，沒有官方名稱）嗎?

No? That's OK, you're not alone – scientists hadn't either. Until recently.

沒有?沒關(guān)系，你不是一個人。科學(xué)家也是最近才發(fā)明的這個詞。

And, hey, guess what – you've got one! The interstitium is your newest organ.

但你猜怎么著，你也有這玩意兒——根據(jù)最近發(fā)表的一項研究，它是科學(xué)家最新發(fā)現(xiàn)的人體器官。

Scientists identified it for the first time because they are better able to observe living tissues at a microscopic scale, according to a recent study published inScientific Reports.

如今，科學(xué)家能夠在微觀尺度上更好地觀察活體組織，所以首次發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個器官。

Scientists had long believed that connective tissue surrounding our organs was a thick, compact layer. That's what they saw when they looked at it in the lab, outside the body, at least.

以前，科學(xué)家一直認(rèn)為，包圍人體器官的結(jié)締組織是厚實的、緊密的。至少，當(dāng)他們將結(jié)締組織取出體外、在實驗室里仔細(xì)觀察時，看到的是上述現(xiàn)象。

But in a routine endoscopy (exploration of the gastrointestinal tract), a micro camera revealed something unexpected.

然而，在一次常規(guī)胃腸道內(nèi)鏡檢查中，醫(yī)生透過顯微攝像頭，發(fā)現(xiàn)了出乎意料的事情。

When observed in a living body, the connective tissue turned out to be "an open, fluid-filled space supported by a lattice made of thick collagen bundles," pathologist and study author Neil Theise told ResearchGate.

研究作者、病理學(xué)家Neil Theise表示：原來，直接觀察活體時，結(jié)締組織是“充滿液體的開放空間，由厚膠原纖維束構(gòu)成的格架所支撐”。

This network of channels is present throughout the body and works as a soft, elastic cushion, protecting the organs from external shocks as the body moves.

這個通道網(wǎng)絡(luò)遍布全身。作為柔軟有彈性的緩沖物，它能夠保護(hù)器官在身體活動時免遭外部沖擊。

Theise suspects the sampling procedure used to make slides, previously the only way for scientists to inspect the tissue in detail, did change the specimens' shape.

以往，科學(xué)家只能通過制作載片，在顯微鏡下仔細(xì)觀察結(jié)締組織。

"Just taking a bite of tissue from this space allows the fluid in the space to drain and the supporting collagen bundles to collapse like the floors of a collapsing building," he said.

Theise推測，取樣過程改變了樣本形態(tài)——提取少量組織會使其中的液體流干，使起支撐作用的膠原纖維束崩塌(如同高樓坍塌)。

Researchers could see tiny cracks in the tissue under the microscope, but they thought those cracks happened when the tissue was pulled too hard as it was loaded onto slides.

在顯微鏡下，研究人員能夠看到結(jié)締組織里的微小裂縫。但他們以為，裂縫是制作載片時結(jié)締組織受到過分牽扯而產(chǎn)生的。

"But these were not artifacts," Theise said.

其實，裂縫并非人為造成，

"These were the remnants of the collapsed spaces. They had been there all the time. But it was only when we could look at living tissue that we could see that."

而是坍塌空間的殘留物。只有觀察活體組織時，才能夠發(fā)現(xiàn)這點。

But the interstitium isn't just the "space between cells".

不過，interstitium不僅僅是“細(xì)胞間的空間”。

Theise and his collaborators think it should be reclassified as a proper organ because of its unique properties and structure which, Theise said, are "highly specific and dependent on the unique structures and cell types that form it".

研究人員認(rèn)為，它應(yīng)該被重新歸類為一種獨特器官，因為它具有獨特的性能和結(jié)構(gòu)。

Better understanding of how our bodies work is never a bad thing. But scientists speculate that these useful properties could also work against us, allowing cancerous cells to spread throughout the body.

深入了解人體運行機(jī)制從來不是件壞事。科學(xué)家推測，這種器官也可以用來對付人類自身，幫助癌細(xì)胞擴(kuò)散至全身。

Theise's team found that in patients with some types of malignant cancers, cells could leave the tissues where they originated and leak into these channels, eventually contaminating the lymphatic system."Once they get in, it's like they're on a water slide," the pathologist told New Scientist. "We have a new window on the mechanism of tumor spread."

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，在某些惡性腫瘤患者體內(nèi)，細(xì)胞可以離開起源組織，滲透到這些通道內(nèi)，最終感染淋巴系統(tǒng)。一旦進(jìn)入通道，它們就仿佛坐上了水滑梯。

With further analysis of the fluid traveling across the interstitium, the researchers hope they may be able to detect cancer much earlier than they can today.

如今，我們加強(qiáng)了對腫瘤擴(kuò)散機(jī)制的了解。研究人員希望通過進(jìn)一步的分析，找到提早探測癌癥的方法。