Molecular phenotypes of the human kidney: Myoid stromal cells/telocytes and myoepithelial cells

Reappraising the microscopic anatomy of human testis: identification of telocyte networks in the peritubular and intertubular stromal space

“…On the other hand, spindle-shaped α-SMA-expressing myoid cells/myofibroblasts have been previously identified in the connective tissue nearby the seminiferous tubules 3 , 56 , where we detected an extensive network of CD34/PDGFRα double-positive TCs. Together with recent findings suggesting the possible existence of a subset of α-SMA-positive myoid TCs in some human organs such as the kidney and the urinary bladder 57 , 58 , the aforementioned evidence prompted us to further carry out CD34/α-SMA double immunofluorescence on human testis samples. Of note, these analyses clearly revealed that the CD34-negative/α-SMA-positive myoid cells/myofibroblasts were selectively located in the inner layer of the peritubular stroma, while the CD34-positive/α-SMA-negative TCs occupied the contiguous outer layer.…”

Telocytes constitute a widespread interstitial meshwork in the lamina propria and underlying striated muscle of human tongue

“…3A–C). Since in some organs it has been proposed the existence of a ‘myoid’ subtype of TCs expressing α-SMA 45,46 , human tongue sections were further subjected to CD34/α-SMA double immunostaining. We found that CD34+ TCs from the whole tongue stromal compartment did not coexpress α-SMA (Fig.…”

“…Of note, these findings are quite similar to those recently reported in the human testis, where CD34+/α-SMA− TCs were seen to form a peritubular outer layer adjacent to an inner layer of CD34−/α-SMA+ ‘myoid’ cells 9 . On the contrary, the existence of α-SMA+ ‘myoid’ subtypes of TCs has been suggested in the interstitial space of organs of the urinary system, such as the kidney and urinary bladder 45,46 . However, it is worth noting that the aforementioned studies 45,46 did not employ CD34/α-SMA double immunofluorescence and, therefore, it cannot be excluded that such α-SMA+ spindle-shaped cells referred to as ‘myoid’ TCs might rather correspond to myofibroblasts, which are well known to express α-SMA 53 .…”

“…On the contrary, the existence of α-SMA+ ‘myoid’ subtypes of TCs has been suggested in the interstitial space of organs of the urinary system, such as the kidney and urinary bladder 45,46 . However, it is worth noting that the aforementioned studies 45,46 did not employ CD34/α-SMA double immunofluorescence and, therefore, it cannot be excluded that such α-SMA+ spindle-shaped cells referred to as ‘myoid’ TCs might rather correspond to myofibroblasts, which are well known to express α-SMA 53 . Even though we frankly acknowledge that a comprehensive ultrastructural analysis of human tongue stromal space was not possible because of the unavailability of specimens of the lamina propria, it is remarkable that we could confirm the presence of cells ultrastructurally identifiable as TCs within the tongue muscle interstitium in the same locations previously disclosed by light microscopy.…”

Generation of renal Epo-producing cell lines by conditional gene tagging reveals rapid HIF-2 driven Epo kinetics, cell autonomous feedback regulation, and a telocyte phenotype

“…43 Telocytes can be found in most organs, including in the kidney cortex (but not medulla). [44][45][46] Telocytes display a number of phenotypical and transcriptomic properties that distinguish them from "classical" fibroblasts. 43,47,48 As shown in Table S2, there is an intriguing overlap between markers expressed in telocytes and in FAIK cell lines.…”