title: Morphology of renal interstitial fibroblasts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Renal fibrogenesis is a process common to all progressive kidney diseases. The main executive cell in this process is the fibroblast, by secreting and remodelling the extracellular matrix. The number of fibroblasts is minor in a healthy kidney interstitium, but it increases during the process of fibrosis. Their morphology and immunophenotype vary due to different intrinsic and extrinsic factors which makes their identification and visualization, as well as determination of their origin, very difficult.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed morphological and immunohistochemical analyses on kidney biopsies with interstitial fibrosis, using the following antibodies: Vimentin, α-SMA, S100A4, Cadherin 9 and CD34. We also did light-microscopy analyses of semithin sections of tissue embedded in epoxy resin and stained with Toluidine blue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our observations show that different cells in the fibroblastic population show positivity for different markers, thus contributing to the theory that there are different subpopulations of fibroblasts, with different origins, that take part in renal fibrogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, R. Macedonia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kostadinova-Kunovska
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jovanovic
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Janevska
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grchevska
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polenakovic
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petrushevska
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins; D000328:Adult; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D015415:Biomarkers; D001706:Biopsy; D015820:Cadherins; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000473:pathology*; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D000071999:S100 Calcium-Binding Protein A4; D009418:S100 Proteins; D014746:Vimentin
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D015415:Biomarkers; C430712:CDH9 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D000071999:S100 Calcium-Binding Protein A4; D009418:S100 Proteins; D014746:Vimentin; C077591:S100A4 protein, human