This is very difficult as a lot of markers are not specific for fibroblasts. Vimentin is a mesenchymal marker so a lot more than only fibroblasts will be marked. I have the same problem when trying to identify telocytes because there is no specific marker to distinguish these cells with fibroblasts. In the article "an immunohistochemical method for identifying fibroblasts in formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissue, Goodpaster et al., 2008" other antibodies are mentioned.

Hello,

even if fibroblasts build up the matrix of connective tissues, also staining for collagens (immunostain) may be unproductive.

In my experience elastin usually specifically stains fibroblasts.

Other markers (which expression has been compared to other cell types) may be also found in this paper:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2759556/pdf/pone.0007475.pdf

If you are looking for a totally antibody-independent method, I may suggest cuprolinic blue stain (which may be then observed in EM preparations) which stains proteoglycans associated to collagen fibers and inside the organelles of the cell (Golgi and TGN). Your fibroblasts will produce proteoglycans, so they will be positively stained. However you must have access to an electron microscopy facility to analyze sections.

You can refer to this paper for more information:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00493375

Hope this helps

I don't believe that there is a histochemical stain that is specific for fibroblasts.

Hello

you can use IHC , also i agree with researcher the vemintin & elastin its a good stains for fibroblasts .

You can see the discussion about this issue on RG link , and see full IHC protocol in attachment.

Good Luck

https://www.researchgate.net/post/IHC-fibroblast_staining-what_marker_to_use

Thanks all for your answers.

I guess it confirms my knowledge. There is no antibody independent (histochemistry) technique to stain directly fibroblasts. The only way is to indirectly highlight extracellular matrix components with the assumption that it comes from the fibroblasts

One way could be via enzyme histochemistry. But this methods are mostly connected with more effort than IHC and can be done only on unfixed tissue.

https://bora.uib.no/bitstream/handle/1956/2181/AOB_24.pdf?sequence=1

In this publication there is a short table with the enzyme activity of fibroblasts.

Hello,

In order to identify fibroblasts specifically, the use of antibodies is the correct option. One option is to use an anti-vimentin antibody, but check this information properly because I remember that there are not universal markers for the identification of fibroblasts. You have to buy antibodies depending on your model (lung, muscle, cancer, etc.).

Talking about dyes for connective tissue (where fibroblasts are located), the most common are Van Gieson's and Masson's Trichrome staining. If you want to use histochemistry in order to identify fibroblast, you can check the red or blue zone (depending on the staining) where collagen is abundant, and count the cells located in it. While these methods are easy to do, to count the cells is not an easy job and will be unspecific. This, due to if a no fibroblast cell (e.g., lymphocytes) is located inside the collagen matrix, the different color of that cell will be “masked” by the color of the matrix, having a false positive.

Hope this helps you.

Kind regards.

Like  JM Lapointe said, I don't think that you can distinguish fibroblast by specific histological stain.

You can only make out those in the HE tissue by morphological differences with  image analysis software.

Good luck.

What about staining a line of fibroblast alive? Could I use Van Gieson's and Masson's Trichrome stainin?

@Matilde Ghibaudi: if you stain with the classical dye solutions/staining methods [Van Gieson's & Masson's Trichrome intended for staining tissue sections (previously fixed and embedded in paraffin, deparaffinized prior to staining)] you'll ruin ('kill') your "alive" fibroblast line.