How can we recognize fibroblasts cells from other cells in skin biopsy samples?
Hi Eman,
Here is an article which might help you:
Goodpaster T, Legesse-Miller A, Hameed MR, Aisner SC, Randolph-Habecker J, Coller HA. An Immunohistochemical Method for Identifying Fibroblasts in Formalin-fixed, Paraffin-embedded Tissue. Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. 2008;56(4):347-358. doi:10.1369/jhc.7A7287.2007.
I was using Vimentin staining for fibroblasts for cultured cells. Vimentin is widely used to stain fibroblasts lthough Vimentin also stains other mesenchymal cells so its not very specific for fibroblasts.
fibroblasts are identified based on their spindle shape combined with positive staining for the mesenchymal marker vimentin and the absence of staining for epithelial or other mesenchymal cell types, such as muscle cells, astrocytes, or hematopoietic cells.
However, this approach is hardly definitive. Fibroblasts can take on a wide array of shapes in different tissues, whereas vimentin-positive cells that are not fibroblasts, including macrophages, can also have a spindle-shaped appearance. Furthermore, vimentin stains a large number of cell types, making it difficult to identify fibroblasts by elimination.
A few antibodies have been previously reported to recognize fibroblasts, some of which take advantage of fibroblasts as the major producer of collagen. One monoclonal antibody (anti-pC) is directed against the cleaved carboxy terminal propeptide of the triple-helical procollagen molecule. This antibody stains some of the fibroblasts from patients with active pulmonary fibrosis, but not fibroblasts that are not actively dividing
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