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Intermediate filament expression in non-neoplastic pituitary cells

  • Published:
Virchows Archiv B

Summary

Fifty-one non-neoplastic human pituitary glands, including examples with Crooke’s hyalinization or amyloidosis, were examined by an immunoperoxidase method using antibodies to keratin, vimentin, neurofilaments (NFs), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), desmin, actin, S-100 protein and a variety of pituitary hormones. It was confirmed that most of the epithelial cells in the pituitary gland express keratin immunoreactivity. These cells included endocrine cells in the anterior lobe, endocrine cells and squamous metaplastic cells in the pars tuberalis, columnar and ciliated epithelia forming follicular structures and salivary-type epithelium in the pars intermedia, and anterior lobe cells infiltrating the posterior lobe. This study also demonstrated that keratin and NFs may be co-expressed in endocrine cells in the pituitary anterior lobe, that keratin, vimentin and GFAP may be co-expressed in the epithelial cells forming cystlike follicle in the pars intermedia, and that vimentin and GFAP may be co-expressed in folliculo-stellate cells and pituicytes. In addition, the GFAP and S-100 protein-negative high columnar epithelium in the pars intermedia tended to be positive for adrenocorticotropic hormone and melanocyte stimulating hormone, while the low columnar epithelium with the co-expression of GFAP and S-100 protein was negative for pituitary hormones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Gunma Cancer Center Hospital, 617-1 Takabayashi, Ota, Gunma 373, Japan

    Akira Ogawa & Shiro Sugihara

  2. Department of Pathology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan

    Yukihiro Nakanishi, Shinobu Suzuki, Atsushi Sasaki, Junko Hirato & Yoichi Nakazato

Authors
  1. Akira Ogawa
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  2. Shiro Sugihara
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  3. Yukihiro Nakanishi
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  4. Shinobu Suzuki
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  5. Atsushi Sasaki
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  6. Junko Hirato
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  7. Yoichi Nakazato
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Ogawa, A., Sugihara, S., Nakanishi, Y. et al. Intermediate filament expression in non-neoplastic pituitary cells. Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathol 58, 331–340 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02890089

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02890089

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