Lumen (anatomy)

Common card · No. 243658

In biology, a lumen (pl.: lumina or lumens) is the space found within an anatomical tubular structure. The use of the word lumen in biology can be applied to numerous systems within the body, as it can refer to the larger vessels and to the intricate formations found within individual cells. The etymology of the word lumen comes from Latin lumen 'an aperture'. The lumen serves a critical-functional role within the network of anatomical structures. The specifics of their purpose depends on their location since lumina are scalable, however; its key role is to allow the transport of substances throughout the aforementioned biological systems. On top of that, lumina are important to morphogenesis as they shape the pathways of organisms as they develop. It can refer to: the interior of a vessel, such as the central space in an artery, vein or capillary through which blood flows the interior of the gastrointestinal tract the pathways of the bronchi in the lungs the interior of renal tubules...

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