Expression of cytokeratins in human umbilical cord at term

Background. Cytokeratins are the proteins that costitute intermediate filaments. In the cytoplasm, keratin filaments extend from the nucleus to the plasma membrane. This link is important for the structural organization of the cytoplasm and for many cellular processes such as mitosis, cell movement, cell differentiation and adhesion. The pattern of expression of cytokeratins is frequently organ or tissue specific and depends mainly on the type of epithelium, the level of differentiation and the stage of development. The expression of cytokeratins in umbilical cord has been investigated by many groups, but these previous studies gave only fragmentary informations: each single study focused only on few types of cytokeratins and usually concerned only their expression at protein level. Aim. With this paper we tryed to make light on the pattern of expression of a wide range of cytokeratins in human umbilical cord both at protein and at RNA level. Results. Through immunohistochemistry we detected in the amniotic epithelium of human umbilical cord at term immunoreactivity for cytokeratin clone AE1/AE3 (Pankeratins) antibody, clone MNF116 (antibody against cytokeratins 1, 5, 10 and 14) and clone 34βE12 (antibody against cytokeratins 5, 6, 8, 17 and 19). RT-PCR analysis revealed gene expression for cytokeratin 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 14 and 17.