Abstract
Background: Telocytes (TCs) are a peculiar morphological type of stromal cells. They project long and moniliform telopodes, visible on various bidimensional sections. Originally regarded as “interstitial Cajal-like cells”, gastrointestinal TCs were CD34+. Further double-labelling studies found that colon TCs are negative for the expressions of the PDGFR-α and α-SMA. However, the TCs in colon were not distinguished specifically from endothelial cells (ECs), vascular or lymphatic. A combinational approach is important for accurate TC identification. Hence, we designed an immunohistochemical study of human colon to check whether ECs and CD34+ TCs express different markers. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed on archived paraffin-embedded samples of human colon (nine cases) for the following markers: CD31, CD34, CD117/c-kit and D2-40 (podoplanin). Results: A distinctive population of CD34+ TCs was found coating the myenteric ganglia. However, also perivascular cells and vascular ECs were CD34+. c-kit expression was equally found in interstitial Cajal cells (ICCs) and perivascular cells. The CD34 TCs did not express c-kit. As they were equally CD31- and D2-40- they were assessed as different from ECs. Conclusions: Testing specific markers of ECs, vascular and lymphatic, in the same tissues in which CD34+ TCs are found, is much more relevant than to identify TCs by transmission electron microscopy alone.
Subject
Paleontology,Space and Planetary Science,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
2 articles.
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