Open AccessImmunohistochemical demonstration of S-100 protein in fibroblast-like cells of the guinea-pig heart.
Author(s) -
Fumiaki Masani,
Toshihiko Iwanaga,
Akira Shibata,
Tsuneo Fujita
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
archivum histologicum japonicum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0004-0681
DOI - 10.1679/aohc.49.117
Subject(s) - fibroblast , cytoplasm , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , cell , immunohistochemistry , organelle , adipose tissue , pathology , cell type , anatomy , cell culture , immunology , endocrinology , medicine , biochemistry , genetics
The immunocytochemical localization of S-100 protein was examined in the hearts of adult guinea-pigs. In addition to Schwann cells, adipose cells and chondrocytes, fibroblast-like cells densely distributed in the cardiac skeleton, all of the four valves and tendinous chordae were immunoreactive for S-100 protein. The S-100-positive fibroblast-like cells were conspicuously rounded in shape and extended their thin, thread-like cell processes in opposite directions; the cytoplasm was restricted to perinuclear region. In these morphological features, the cells were distinctly different from ordinary fibroblasts which were immunonegative for S-100 protein. Electron microscopic observation revealed that the S-100-like immunoreactivity was distributed throughout the cytoplasmic matrix in the cell body and processes, but absent from the nuclei and cell organelles. The significance of the S-100 immunopositive fibroblast-like cells was discussed in relation to cartilaginous tissues, which have the potential to form in the region of the cardiac skeleton and valves under both normal and abnormal conditions.