Figure 5. Phenotypic markers of stromal cell differentiation.
Myofibroblasts and fibroblasts are both proliferative and synthetic, while smooth muscle is primarily quiescent. In the prostate gland, stromal cell types can be distinguished histologically, and by overlapping expression patterns of vimentin, α-SMA, intracellular synthesis of pro-collagen type 1, deposition of the glycoprotein tenascin-C, and calponin. (With adaptation from The Journal of Urology, Vol 166, Tuxhorn J. et al., Reactive Stroma in Prostate Cancer Progression, Figure 2 on p2474, ©2001 American Urological Association, Inc., with permission from Elsevier).