CTGF, intestinal stellate cells and carcinoid fibrogenesis

Figure 3 Immunostaining of areas of SI carcinoid tumor fibrosis with α-smooth muscle actin (A), vimentin (B), desmin (C), collagen III (D) and CTGF (E/F). Triple color staining of nuclei (blue-DAPI), cytokeratin-carcinoid tumor cells (green-Alexa 488) and the protein of interest (red-Cy5). (A) Discrete α-smooth muscle actin-positive cells (yellow star) were noted interspersed with tumor cells (white star) in areas of fibrosis. Cells consistent with myofibroblasts were associated with vimentin (B), desmin (C), collagen-III (D) and CTGF (E/F) production (yellow arrows). Within the fibrosis, carcinoid tumor cells were also CTGF-positive (F) (white arrow) (400 × magnification).