Keratin cytoskeletons in epithelial cells of internal organs

An antiserum against human epidermal keratins was used to detect keratins in frozen sections of various rabbit and human tissues by indirect immunofluorescence. Strong staining was observed in all stratified squamous epithelia (epidermis, cornea, conjunctiva, tongue, esophagus, vagina, and anus), in epidermal appendages (hair follicle, sebaceous gland, ductal and myoepithelial cells of sweat glands), as well as in Hassall's corpuscles of the thymus, indicating that all contain abundant keratins. No staining by the antiserum was observed in fibroblasts, muscle of any type, cartilage, blood vessel, nerve tissue, iris or lens epithelium, or the glomerular or tubular cells of the kidney. In contrast, the antiserum stained the cells of most epithelia of the intestinal tract, urinary tract (urethra, bladder, ureter, collecting ducts of kidney), female genital tract (cervix, cervical glands, uterus, and oviduct), and respiratory tract (trachea and bronchi). Epithelial cells of the fine ductal system in the pancreas and submaxillary gland also stained well. When primary cultures of epithelial cells derived from bladder, intestine, kidney, and trachea were grown on glass coverslips and stained with anti-keratin, fiber networks similar to those of cultured keratinocytes were observed. These results show that keratins constitute a cytoskeleton in epithelial cells of diverse morphology and embryological origin. The stability of keratin filaments probably confers the structural strength necessary for cells covering a free surface. Keratin staining can be used to obtain information about the origin of cell lines.