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Re-expression of nestin in the myocardium of postinfarcted patients

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Abstract

Intact cardiac muscle cells in the adult heart do not express intermediate filament nestin. In this study, we report on widespread expression of intermediate filament nestin in human myocardium of patients who died from the myocardial infarction. Nestin was detected in cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and few interstitial cells. Elevated levels of nestin were observed in cardiac muscle cells in all specimens, although the intensity of immunoreactivity and distribution of the signal differed. The strongest immunoreactivity was observed from 4 days after myocardial infarction in the infarction border zone where nestin was distributed homogeneously in the entire sarcoplasm of cardiac muscle cells. Within the following week, nestin in immunoreactive cardiomyocytes was redistributed and restricted to small subsarcolemmal foci and to intercalated discs. Angiogenic capillaries that grew between vital nestin-positive cardiomyocytes and entered the necrotic area expressed also high levels of nestin. Nestin-positive endothelial cells were often observed in mutual interactions with nestin-positive cardiac muscle cells. These findings document a crucial role of nestin in remodeling cytoskeleton of cells in the human postinfarcted myocardium.

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Abbreviations

PCNA:

proliferating cell nuclear antigen

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Mrs. Helena Rückerová and Mrs. Hana Hollerová for their skillful technical assistance. The study was supported by the project MSM0021620817.

Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Histology and Embryology, Medical Faculty in Hradec Kralove, Charles University in Prague, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

    J. Mokry, D. Cizkova & S. Filip

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty Hospital, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

    R. Pudil

  3. Department of Pathology, Palacky University, Medical Faculty in Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    J. Ehrmann & Z. Kolar

  4. Department of Radiobiology, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

    J. Osterreicher

  5. Department of Histology and Embryology, Charles University Medical Faculty, Simkova 870, 500 38, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

    J. Mokry

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  1. J. Mokry
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Correspondence to J. Mokry.

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Mokry, J., Pudil, R., Ehrmann, J. et al. Re-expression of nestin in the myocardium of postinfarcted patients. Virchows Arch 453, 33–41 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-008-0631-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-008-0631-8

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