This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Robinson, T. L. Articles by Huizinga, J. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Robinson, T. L. Articles by Huizinga, J. D.

(American Journal of Pathology. 2000;156:1157-1163.)
© 2000 American Society for Investigative Pathology

Short Communications

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors May Originate from a Subset of CD34-Positive Interstitial Cells of Cajal

Tim L. Robinson^*, Kanishka Sircar, Bryan R. Hewlett, Katherine Chorneyko, Robert H. Riddell and Jan D. Huizinga^*

From the Departments of Medicine^*
and Pathology and Molecular Medicine,
and the Intestinal Disease Research Program,
McMaster University Medical Center, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Most gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), a subgroup of mesenchymal neoplasms of the gut wall, express both Kit (CD117) and CD34 proteins. It has been suggested that GISTs originate from or differentiate into interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), after several reports indicated that ICC are likely the only cells in the gut which express both Kit and CD34. ICC are among the few cell types resident in the gut which express Kit, together with mast cells. However, the question whether or not ICC express CD34 is currently disputed. Using single-cell reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on cultured murine intestinal cells, single ICC were selected by morphology and tested for the expression of c-kit and CD34 mRNA. Most ICC were only c-kit-positive, however a subset (7 out of 43) were double positive for both c-kit and CD34. In the human small intestine, sequential immunohistochemical staining for Kit and CD34 proteins on the same 3-µm sections showed that some of the ICC surrounding Auerbach’s plexus and ICC within the circular muscle layer of the small intestine were positive for both Kit and CD34. In addition, CD34⁺Kit^- cells were seen adjacent to ICC. These data from two different techniques indicate that ICC can be double positive for Kit and CD34. Thus, GISTs with the Kit⁺CD34⁺ phenotype may arise from a subpopulation of CD34⁺ Kit⁺ ICC.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Fujimoto, M. Shibutani, K. Kuroiwa, K. Inoue, G.-H. Woo, M. U, and M. Hirose A Case Report of a Spontaneous Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST) Occurring in a F344 Rat Toxicol Pathol, February 1, 2006; 34(2): 164 - 167. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Ordog, D. Redelman, L. J. Miller, V. J. Horvath, Q. Zhong, G. Almeida-Porada, E. D. Zanjani, B. Horowitz, and K. M. Sanders Purification of interstitial cells of Cajal by fluorescence-activated cell sorting Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, February 1, 2004; 286(2): C448 - C456. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Rosai GIST: An Update International Journal of Surgical Pathology, July 1, 2003; 11(3): 177 - 186. [PDF]

				S. Singer, B. P. Rubin, M. L. Lux, C.-J. Chen, G. D. Demetri, C. D.M. Fletcher, and J. A. Fletcher Prognostic Value of KIT Mutation Type, Mitotic Activity, and Histologic Subtype in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors J. Clin. Oncol., September 15, 2002; 20(18): 3898 - 3905. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. P. Rubin, S. Singer, C. Tsao, A. Duensing, M. L. Lux, R. Ruiz, M. K. Hibbard, C.-J. Chen, S. Xiao, D. A. Tuveson, et al. KIT Activation Is a Ubiquitous Feature of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Cancer Res., November 1, 2001; 61(22): 8118 - 8121. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Tsujimura, C. Makiishi-Shimobayashi, J. Lundkvist, U. Lendahl, K. Nakasho, A. Sugihara, T. Iwasaki, M. Mano, N. Yamada, K. Yamashita, et al. Expression of the Intermediate Filament Nestin in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors and Interstitial Cells of Cajal Am. J. Pathol., March 1, 2001; 158(3): 817 - 823. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]