Abstract
Normal adult rat and human tissues and a total of 107 human brain tumors were evaluated immunohistochemically for the expression of intermediate filament-related proteins by the use of antibodies against vimentin, keratin, desmin and GFA protein.
In normal adult tissues vimentin was characteristic of cell types of mesenchymal origin such as vascular endothelial cells, fibroblasts, chondrocytes and arachnoidal cells. A strong staining reaction to keratin was observed in all stratified squamous epithelia, including those from epidermis, dermal appendage, epithelia of bile duct, pancreatic duct, urinary epithelia, tracheal and bronchial epithelia, and myoepithelial cells of various glands. Desmin was present in striated and smooth muscle cells.
Of various histological types of brain tumors examined prositive immunostaining was demonstrated in cells of gliomas, meningiomas (including hemangiopericytic type), schwannomas, a malignant melanoma and in stromal cells of hemangioblastomas. All medulloblastomas were negative for vimentin. Gliomas were found to contain two types of intermediate filament proteins, vimentin and GFA protein, simultaneously. A positive reaction for keratin was seen in craniopharyngiomas, basal layer of epidermoid cysts, epithelial part of a teratoma and in some metastatic carcinomas of the brain. There was no tumor which has cells to contain desmin.
