Fibrous Cap Smooth Muscle Cells in Atherosclerotic Coronary Arteries Do Not Express Pluripotent Stem Cell Markers
Figure 1
Photomicrographs of serial adjacent sections of the left main coronary artery. Photos are arranged in columns. Macrophage (RAM-11) positive cells are abundant throughout the plaque ((a), ×40, scale bar 250 µm), and also sporadically within the fibrous cap ((a), exploded view, ×400, scale bar 18 µm). These results were very similar to Oct-4 staining (b), indicative that macrophages might be primitive cells (arrows and dashed circles). In addition, SMCα actin positive cells were visible throughout the plaque (c), specifically represented as spindle shaped cells in the formed cap ((c), exploded view, scale bar 8 µm), as well as overlying the endothelial layer. SSEA-4 positive immunolabled cells were also present in the endothelial layer and coronary artery core, and this was similar to RAM-11, Oct-4, and SMCα actin positive cells. No spindle shaped cells were present in the coronary artery fibrous cap that also reacted with any ESC marker.
