Institute of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Spitalska Street 24, SK-81372 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Institute of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Spitalska Street 24, SK-81372 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Med Hypotheses. 2018 Jan;110:64-67. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2017.11.003. Epub 2017 Nov 8.
Uterine telocytes are interstitial cells characterized by a very long cytoplasmic prolongations, which form a 3D network, functionally integrating a wide variety of different cells. Leiomyomas (uterine fibroids) are benign tumors, which pose a huge threat concerning various health problems in women affected by this condition. The exact cause of leiomyomas development is, however, still largely unknown. Therefore, in an attempt to clarify their etiology, we performed an immunohistochemical characterization of telocytes in leiomyomas as well as in normal myometrium. Tissue samples of intramural leiomyomas from 26 women (age 46.26 ± 11.07) were immunohistochemically stained for the expression of c-kit (CD117) antigen, one of the markers of telocytes. C-kit (CD117) antigen is useful for a routine immunohistochemical identification of uterine telocytes in histological sections of myometrium. In normal, healthy myometrium the c-kit positive telocytes occupy approximately 2.2% of the area of a tissue slide, contrasting with no detectable c-kit positive cells within leiomyomas. As telocytes are thought to be key players in the regulation of tissue homoeostasis, our data suggest that uterine telocyte loss may have important implications in the pathogenesis of leiomyomas. In addition, we supposed to summarize three hypotheses on the association of the cells telocytes loss within the myometrium and formation of leiomyomas. These hypotheses include the loss of telocytes' functions as "sex hormone sensors" and regulators of smooth muscle cells cycle; the role of telocytes as progenitor cells for the development of leiomyomas; and the hypothesis of decreased angiogenesis after telocytes' loss with subsequent hypoxia (as a key factor for leiomyomas development).
子宫蒂细胞是一种具有非常长的细胞质突起的间质细胞，形成三维网络，功能上整合了各种各样的不同细胞。子宫肌瘤（子宫纤维瘤）是良性肿瘤，对受此病症影响的女性的各种健康问题构成了巨大威胁。然而，子宫肌瘤发展的确切原因在很大程度上仍然未知。因此，为了阐明其病因，我们对子宫肌瘤和正常子宫肌层中的蒂细胞进行了免疫组织化学特征分析。对 26 名女性（年龄 46.26±11.07）的壁内子宫肌瘤组织样本进行了 c-kit（CD117）抗原的免疫组织化学染色，c-kit（CD117）抗原是鉴定子宫蒂细胞的一种有用的标记物。在正常健康的子宫肌层中，c-kit 阳性的蒂细胞约占组织切片面积的 2.2%，而子宫肌瘤中则检测不到 c-kit 阳性细胞。由于蒂细胞被认为是调节组织内稳态的关键因素，我们的数据表明，子宫蒂细胞的丢失可能对子宫肌瘤的发病机制有重要影响。此外，我们总结了关于肌层内蒂细胞丢失与子宫肌瘤形成之间关联的三个假设。这些假设包括蒂细胞作为“性激素传感器”和调节平滑肌细胞周期的功能丧失；蒂细胞作为子宫肌瘤发展的祖细胞的作用；以及蒂细胞丢失后血管生成减少，随后缺氧（作为子宫肌瘤发展的关键因素）的假说。
