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Identification of autofluorescent cells in human angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma

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Abstract

Endogenous cell autofluorescence is a common nuisance that complicates the use of fluorescence microscopy. When using fluorescence-labeled antibodies for specific cell labeling in tissue sections of human angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL), we encountered with a problematic autofluorescence of multiple cells. These cells emitted fluorescence signals in the green, red and deep-red spectral range. Characterization of these autofluorescent cells solely on the basis of their autofluorescence failed. To identify these enigmatic cells residing the lymphoma tissue, we combined two imaging techniques—fluorescence and brightfield microscopy. Combined fluorescence/brightfield imaging of cells immunolabeled with a panel of CD antibodies raised against diverse cellular components allowed us to identify the autofluorescent cells in the AITL as eosinophils. These cells tended to accumulate in the vicinity of capillaries and arterioles apparently mediating the process of angiogenesis resembling other angiogenesis-associated diseases.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Denis Morozow and Alexander Glomb for perfect technical assistance and other colleagues from the immunohistology laboratory for sharing probes and reagents. The Axio Vision software setup for the automatic measurement program and for the multichannel acquisition of fluorescent and transmitted light images was kindly supported by Volker Hagen (m-imaging Solutions, Hamburg, Germany).

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Author notes

  1. Igor Buchwalow and Dmitri Atiakshin contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Hematopathology, Fangdieckstreet 75a, 22547, Hamburg, Germany

    Igor Buchwalow, Vera Samoilova, Werner Boecker & Markus Tiemann

  2. Research Institute of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Burdenko Voronezh State Medical University, Fangdieckstreet 75a, 22547, Voronezh, Russia

    Dmitri Atiakshin

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  1. Igor Buchwalow
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  2. Dmitri Atiakshin
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  3. Vera Samoilova
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  4. Werner Boecker
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  5. Markus Tiemann
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Contributions

IB and MT designed the study, VS and DA performed experiments, IB wrote the manuscript, WB and MT supervised the study.

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Correspondence to Igor Buchwalow.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Buchwalow, I., Atiakshin, D., Samoilova, V. et al. Identification of autofluorescent cells in human angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. Histochem Cell Biol 149, 169–177 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-017-1624-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-017-1624-y

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