Fig. 7.

Limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc) skin, transmission electron microscopy. (A) Early lcSSc. A telocyte displaying an enlarged shape, due to the presence of large vacuoles (v) in its telopodes, surrounds an area of dermal oedema (asterisk). Both normal mitochondria and swollen mitochondria with a clear matrix and few cristae (arrow) are identifiable in the cytoplasm. (B) Advanced lcSSc. A degenerating telocyte entrapped in the fibrotic extracellular matrix shows numerous swollen mitochondria (arrows). The cytoplasm is dark and contains vacuoles and lipofuscinic bodies. (C) Early lcSSc. Telocytes and telopodes displaying a normal morphology are present in the close vicinity of or even in contact with a myofibroblast which shows a large body rich in rough endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria and myofilaments. Subplasmalemmal focal densities are evident (arrowheads). (D) Early lcSSc. Some telocytes and telopodes with a normal morphology are present around a blood vessel displaying a patent lumen. The vessel basal lamina is markedly thickened (asterisk). (E) Early lcSSc. Normal telocytes with very long and convoluted telopodes surround a perivascular inflammatory infiltrate composed of monocytes and lymphocytes. Telopodes establish cell-to-cell contacts with inflammatory cells (arrowheads). A mast cell is also in contact with telopodes. TC: telocyte; Tp: telopode; My: myofibroblast; E: endothelial cell; Ly: lymphocyte; Mo: monocyte; MC: mast cell. Scale bars are indicated in each panel.