Abstract
We show here that methylene‐blue supravital staining of specimens from normal mammary‐gland reveals (selectively) interstitial (stromal) cells, with 2–3 long (20–80 μm), thin, moniliform processes. Such cells appear c‐kit/CD117 positive, either by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or immunofluorescence (IF). Since these features (affinity for methylene blue, c‐kit positivity, and characteristic processes) define archetypal interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in light microscopy, our results suggest the existence of Cajal‐like cells in the interstitium of human normal mammary gland.
Keywords: human mammary‐gland, methylene‐blue vital staining, CD117, interstitial cells of Cajal, Cajal‐like cells, cell processes, stromal cells
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