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. 2007 May 1;9(3):748–752. doi: 10.1111/j.1582-4934.2005.tb00509.x

Cajal‐type cells from human mammary gland stroma: phenotype characteristics in cell culture

E Radu 1,2, T Regalia 1, Laura Ceafalan 1, F Andrei 2, D Cretoiu 1,2, L M Popescu 1,2,✉
PMCID: PMC6741633  PMID: 16202226

Abstract

We report here the in vitro isolation of Cajal‐like interstitial cells from human inactive mammary‐gland Stroma. Primary cell cultures examined in phase‐contrast microscopy or after vital methylene‐blue staining revealed a cell population with characteristic morphological phenotype: fusiforms, triangular or polygonal cell body and the corresponding (very) long, slender, moniliform cytoplasmic processes. Giremsa staining pointed out the typical knobbed aspect of cell prolongations. Immunofluorescence (IF) showed, like in situ immunohistochemistry, that Cajal‐type cells in vitro (primary culltures), expressed c‐kit/CD117 and vimentin. In conclusion, the images presented here reinforce our previous hypothesis that human mammary glands have a distinct population of Cajal‐like cells in non‐epithelial tissue compartments.

Keywords: interstitial cells of Cajal, stromal cells in culture, cell processes, CD117/c‐kit, vimentin, intercellular bridges, Giemasa staining, methylene blue vital staining, differential interference contrast

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