Summary
Antibodies to different intermediate filament proteins can be used to distinguish cells of epithelial, mesenchymal, muscle, glial and neuronal origin. Antibodies to prekeratin which characterize cells of epithelial origin, and antibodies to vimentin which recognize cells of mesenchymal origin have been used to study twenty cases of breast carcinoma (sixteen infiltrating ductal carcinomas and four infiltrating intraductal carcinomas), two cases of cystic breast disease, two fibroadenomas and one case of benign cystosarcoma phylloides. The prekeratin and vimentin were detected using specific antibodies to these proteins by immunofluorescence microscopy using alcohol fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. In eighteen out of the twenty carcinomas the tumor cells were strongly and specifically stained by antibodies to prekeratin. Different tumors gave different patterns of prekeratin staining. In contrast, when the same specimens were tested with the vimentin antibody, the tumor cells were unstained, and instead only the usual strong staining to fibroblasts and blood vessels in the stroma was observed. In cystic breast disease, fibroadenomas, and benign cystosarcoma phylloides, cells of epithelial origin were strongly stained by the prekeratin but not by the vimentin antibody.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altmannsberger M, Osborn M, Schauer A, Weber K (1981) Antibodies to different intermediate filament proteins are cell type specific markers for fixed and embedded human tissues. Lab Invest (in press)
Bannasch P, Zerban H, Schmid E, Franke WW (1980) Liver tumors distinguished by immunofluorescence microscopy with antibodies to proteins of intermediate-sized filaments. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77: 4948–4952
Bässler R (1969) Das sogenannte lobuläre Carcinom der Mamma. Dtsch Med Wochenschr 94: 108–113
Bässler R (1978) Pathologie der Brustdrüse. In: Doerr W, Scifert G, Uehlinger E (eds) Spezielle pathologische Anatomie, Band 11. Springer, Berlin Heidleberg New York
Bennett GS, Fellini SA, Croop JM, Otto JJ, Bryan J, Holtzer H (1978) Differences among 100Å filament subunits from different cell types. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 75: 4364–4368
Carter D, Yardley JH, Shelley WM (1969) Lobular carcinoma of the breast. An ultrastructural comparison with certain duct carcinomas and benign lesions. John Hopkins Med J 125: 25–32
Fisher ER, Gregorio RM, Fisher B (1975) The pathology of invasive breast cancer. Cancer (Philad) 36: 1–85
Franke WW, Appelhans B, Schmid E, Freudenstein C, Osborn M, Weber K (1979) Identification and characterization of epithelial cells in mammalian tissues by immunofluorescence microscopy using antibodies to prekeratin. Differentiation 15: 7–25
Franke WW, Schmid E, Freudenstein C, Appelhans B, Osborn M, Weber K, Keenan TW (1980) Intermediate filaments of the prekeratin type in myoepithelial cells. J Cell Biol 84: 633–654
Franke WW, Schmid E, Osborn M, Weber K (1978) Different intermediate-sized filaments distinguished by immunofluorescence microscopy. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 75: 5034–5038
Franke WW, Schmid E, Winter S, Osborn M, Weber K (1979) Widespread occurrence of intermediate-sized filaments of the vimentin-type in cultured cells from diverse vertebrates. Exp Cell Res 123: 25–46
Franke WW, Weber K, Osborn M, Schmid E, Freudenstein C (1978) Antibody to prekeratin: decoration of tonofilamentlike arrays in various cells of epithelial character. Exp Cell Res 116: 429–445
Lazarides E (1980) Intermediate filaments as mechanical integrators of cellular space. Nature 283: 249–256
Osborn M, Weber K (1981) Immunofluorescence and immunochemical procedures with affinity purified antibodies: tubulin-containing structures. In: Wilson L (ed). The cytoskeleton. Methods in cell biology, vol 24, Academic Press, New York (in press)
Scarff RW, Torloni H (1968) Histological typing of breast tumors. International histological classification of tumors. No 2, WHO, Geneva
Schlegel R, Banks-Schlegel S, McLeod JA, Pinkus GS (1980) Immunoperoxidase localization of keratin in human neoplasmas. Am J Pathol 101: 41–48
Schlegel R, Banks-Schlegel S, Pinkus GS (1980) Immunohistochemical localization of keratin in normal human tissues. Lab Invest 42: 91–96
Schmid E, Tapscott S, Bennett GS, Croop J, Fellini SA, Holtzer H, Franke WW (1979) Differential location of different types of intermediate-sized filaments in various tissues of the chicken embryo. Differentiation 15: 27–40
Sun TT, Shih C, Green H (1979) Keratin cytoskeletons in epithelial cells of internal organs. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76: 2813–2817
Weber K, Osborn M (1981) Micro tubules and intermediate filament networks in cells viewed by immunofluorescence microscopy. In: Post G, Nicolson GI (eds) Cell surface reviews. Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, New York (in press)
Winter H, Schweizer J, Goerttler K (1980) Keratins as markers of malignancy in mouse epidermal tumors. Carcinogenesis 1: 391–398
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Altmannsberger, M., Osborn, M., Hölscher, A. et al. The distribution of keratin type intermediate filaments in human breast cancer. Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathol 37, 277–284 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02892576
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02892576