[Monoclonal antibodies against intermediate cytoskeletal filaments. Their importance in the study of tissue differentiation and biopsy diagnosis].

The expression of intermediate filaments during tissue differentiation, in mature tissues and in their neoplastic derivatives (lungs, thyroid gland, kidney, uterus, CNS) was investigated by means of monoclonal antibodies prepared in our departments (Institute of Molecular Genetics, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague and in the Department of Immunology and Molecular Biology, Brno). The conclusions of these investigations provide evidence of the restricted specificity of detection of intermediate filaments in relation to germ layers and mesenchymal vs. epithelial set-up of tissues and the need of knowledge of the differential programme of a given tissue for the interpretation of the presence of intermediate filaments in tumours which develop from it.