DNA measurement and immunohistochemical characterization of epithelial and mesenchymal cells in canine mixed mammary tumours: putative evidence for a common histogenesis.

DNA measurement by image cytometry, and a detailed immunohistochemical study using monoclonal antibodies directed against different human cytokeratin types, muscle-specific actin, vimentin and S100 protein were carried out on normal canine mammary tissue (n =4), benign canine mammary mixed tumours (n =20) and malignant canine mammary mixed tumours (n =13). The results showed that ductal and alveolar luminal cells in normal and neoplastic tissue were immunoreactive with CAM5.2 and AE1/AE3 antibodies recognizing human keratins.Basal/myoepithelial cells were clearly differentiated from ductal and alveolar epithelial cells, since the latter only expressed cytokeratins, whereas the former also expressed vimentin and muscle-specific actin. This immunohistochemical study showed that there is loss of expression of muscle-specific actin and cytokeratins in areas of myoepithelial proliferation, and enhanced expression of vimentin and S100 protein in proliferative areas with osseous and/or chondroid metaplasia. The ploidy studies revealed that 20% (4/20) of benign and 54% (7/13) of malignant mixed tumours of canine mammary gland were aneuploid and that the epithelial and myoepithelial components of the mixed tumours had identical DNA content. Our results reinforce the role of myoepithelial cells in mesenchymal metaplasia in mixed mammary tumours and suggest the possibility of a common origin of both components from a totipotential stem cell with capacity for divergent differentiation.