Lumen (anatomy)

In biology, a lumen (plural lumina) is the inside space of a tubular structure, such as an artery or intestine.[1] It comes from Latin lumen 'an opening'.

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[2]
the pathways of the bronchi in the lungs
the interior of renal tubules and urinary collecting ducts
the pathways of the female genital tract, starting with a single pathway of the vagina, splitting up in two lumina in the uterus, both of which continue through the fallopian tubes

In cell biology, a lumen is a membrane-defined space that is found inside several organelles, cellular components, or structures, including thylakoid, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosome, mitochondrion, and microtubule.

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