title: Intermediate filaments of myofibroblasts. Immunochemical and immunocytochemical analyses.
abstract: We generated a monoclonal anti-vimentin antibody, VIM-1, by mouse hybridoma technique, using an established myofibroblast line as a whole cell immunogen. The presence of vimentin polypeptides in the cultured myofibroblasts was confirmed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. By light microscopic immunocytochemistry, myofibroblasts in cultures as well as in frozen tissue sections showed a strong reaction with the anti-vimentin antibody, whereas these cells lacked either detectable desmin or cytokeratin. Our results support the fibroblastic origin of myofibroblasts. Immunoelectron microscopic study with ferritin-ABC technique demonstrated that VIM-1 reacted exclusively with 10-nm intermediate filaments, while other cellular structures revealed uniformly negative reaction against the antibody.
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002460:Cell Line; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007120:Immunochemistry; D007382:Intermediate Filaments / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D014746:Vimentin