Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Novo Nordisk Center for Stem Cell Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
J Histochem Cytochem. 2018 Dec;66(12):879-888. doi: 10.1369/0022155418788845. Epub 2018 Jul 13.
CD117 is a putative marker of luminal progenitor cells in the human breast. However, so far mapping the expression pattern of CD117 within the normal gland has not been reported. Here, we examined the anatomical distribution of CD117-expressing cells in lobular and ductal structures by immunohistochemistry. The presence of CD117-positive luminal cells could be divided into three distinct patterns: (1) contiguous, with coherent positive cells and rare negative cells interspaced; (2) patched, with a roughly equal frequency of positive and negative cells distributed focally; or (3) scattered, with few or no positive cells in the structure. Generally, a patched or scattered expression pattern was more frequent in lobules compared with ducts. Furthermore, an age-correlated increase in heterogeneity was observed. When comparing women below and above 21 years of age this heterogeneity was evident for both lobules and ducts. Although CD117-expression was generally segregated from luminal-lineage transcription factor GATA3-positive cells, some did co-express both markers. Finally, co-staining with Ki-67 revealed that a prominent part of cycling cells belonged to the CD117-positive population. Together these data demonstrate the presence of a CD117-expressing progenitor compartment with the capacity to replenish the luminal lineage of the breast gland.
CD117 是人类乳腺腔状前体细胞的假定标志物。然而，到目前为止，尚未有关于在正常乳腺中 CD117 表达模式的报道。在这里，我们通过免疫组织化学方法检查了 CD117 表达细胞在小叶和导管结构中的解剖分布。CD117 阳性腔细胞的存在可分为三种不同的模式：（1）连续型，具有一致的阳性细胞和罕见的阴性细胞相间；（2）斑块型，阳性细胞和阴性细胞的分布大致相等；或（3）散在型，结构中阳性细胞较少或没有。通常，小叶中斑块型或散在型表达模式比导管更常见。此外，还观察到与年龄相关的异质性增加。比较 21 岁以下和以上的女性，这种异质性在小叶和导管中都很明显。虽然 CD117 表达通常与腔系转录因子 GATA3 阳性细胞分离，但有些细胞确实同时表达这两种标志物。最后，与 Ki-67 的共染色显示，大部分有丝分裂细胞属于 CD117 阳性群体。这些数据共同表明，存在一个具有补充乳腺腔系能力的 CD117 表达祖细胞区室。
