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α-Smooth muscle actin is expressed in a subset of bone marrow stromal cells in normal and pathological conditions

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Virchows Archiv B

Summary

A series of 217 trephine bone marrow biopsies from adult patients and specimens from 16 fetuses and 5 infants were examined for the presence of stromal myoid cells (MCs) using a monoclonal antibody recognizing α-smooth muscle actin. In the normal adult bone marrow, stromal cells did not contain α-smooth muscle actin, whereas during fetal life, many α-smooth muscle actin-containing MCs were connected with vascular sinusoids in the primitive bone marrow. This cell type reappeared in various characteristic distribution patterns in adult bone marrow during different neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions including metastatic carcinoma, Hodgkin’s disease, multiple myeloma, hairy cell leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia (FAB M4, 5, 7) and chronic myeloproliferative diseases. In general, the appearance of MCs was associated with a slight to pronounced increase in the deposition of reticulin and collagen fibers. We propose that bone marrow MCs represent a distinct subpopulation of fiber-associated or adventitial reticular cells undergoing cytoskeletal remodeling in response to various stimuli.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Düsseldorf, School of Medicine, Moorenstrasse 5, D-4000, Düsseldorf 1, Federal Republic of Germany

    Annette Schmitt-Gräff

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Geneva, CMU, 1 rue Michel-Servet, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    Omar Skalli & Giulio Gabbiani

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  1. Annette Schmitt-Gräff
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  2. Omar Skalli
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  3. Giulio Gabbiani
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Schmitt-Gräff, A., Skalli, O. & Gabbiani, G. α-Smooth muscle actin is expressed in a subset of bone marrow stromal cells in normal and pathological conditions. Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathol 57, 291–302 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02899094

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02899094

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