Identification of new human pericyte-specific markers and investigation of characteristic features of perivascular myoid cell neoplasms

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26860237
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Human pathology
• Research Institution: Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Meguro Shiori 浜松医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (40724290)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: pericyte / 血管平滑筋細胞 / perivascular tumors / myosin 1B

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Our aim was to identify pericyte-specific markers for the analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded human tissue samples, and to characterize perivascular myoid cell neoplasms phenotypically. We compared gene expression profiles between pericytes, vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs), and fibroblasts, and performed human skin vasculature immunohistochemical analysis, which led to the identification of myosin 1B (MYO1B) as a novel pericyte marker. We investigated the expression levels of MYO1B and h-caldesmon (h-CD) in human skin vasculatures, and we found that the human skin vasculatures can be classified as follows: pericytes (MYO1B+h-CD-), mural cells (MYO1B+h-CD+), and vSMCs (MYO1B-h-CD+). We also examined the expression levels of MYO1B and h-CD in perivascular myoid cell neoplasms (angioleiomyomas, glomus tumors, and myopericytomas). The ability to distinguish between these cell types may allow us to understand the differentiation and origin of perivascular myoid cell neoplasms.

Free Research Field

病理学