Premium
Intermediate filament aggregates in mitoses of primary cutaneous neuroendocrine (Merkel cell) carcinoma
Author(s) -
ALVAREZGAGO T.,
M.BULLÓN M.,
RIVERA F.,
VELASCO A.,
MAYO A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
histopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.626
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1365-2559
pISSN - 0309-0167
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2559.1996.d01-434.x
Subject(s) - neurofilament , intermediate filament , mitosis , interphase , cytokeratin , biology , pathology , protein filament , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , cytoskeleton , immunohistochemistry , medicine , immunology , biochemistry
Primary cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinomas express different kinds of intermediate filaments and frequently in a ‘paranuclear globular’ pattern. We have observed the same pattern not only in interphase but also in mitotic cells, which are very frequent in these tumours. We report a quantitative and morphological study of eight primary cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinomas stained with different antibodies against cytokeratins (CAM 5.2 and anti‐cytokeratin 20), neurofilaments (70 kDa and 200 kDa) and peripherin. We have found a predominance of CAM 5.2 expression in interphase cells and of neurofilament proteins in mitotic cells; 87.02% of the interphase cells were positive with CAM 5.2 whereas only 6.08% were positive for neurofilaments ( P <0.01); 35.41% of the mitotic cells were positive with CAM 5.2, whereas 50% were positive for neurofilaments ( P <0.01). A correlation between a globular pattern of intermediate filament proteins and prognosis has not been found. We describe for the first time the division of neoplastic cells with a globular pattern; the presence of intermediate filament proteins with a globular pattern in all mitotic stages; and the uneven distribution of this formation between the two daughter cells.