Fol. Biol. 2006, 52, 167-172
Expression of Actin Isoforms in Human Auricular Cartilage
The objective of this study was to determine whether human auricular chondrocytes can also express α α−smooth muscle actin. Immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies for α α-smooth actin, muscle-specific actin, β-actin, S-100 protein, CD34, and desmin was performed on samples of human ear cartilage obtained from 20 individuals during a partial resection of the ear for different reasons. Moreover, the RT-PCR analysis of actin isoforms in auricular chondrocytes was performed. Approximately 60 % of the chondrocytes of the ear cartilage expressed α α-smooth muscle actin as demonstrated by immunohistochemistry in all the examined samples. Actin-positive chondrocytes occurred in both external subperichondrial layers of the auricular cartilage. This finding was confirmed by the RT-PCR technique. The knowledge of this fact could help us to better understand the chondrocyte changes occurring during the healing and transplantation of auricular cartilage. The question of whether it is necessary to refer to these predominating cells in ear cartilage as myochondrocytes is considered. This is the first report of an unusual immunophenotype and contractile potential for human auricular chondrocytes.
Keywords
human auricular cartilage, chondrocytes, α-smooth muscle actin, CD34 antigen, myochondrocytes.
Funding
This work was supported by Grant from the Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic NR/8150-4.
References
Copyright
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.