Snapshots of mammary gland interstitial cells: methylene-blue vital staining and c-kit immunopositivity

We show here that methylene-blue supravital staining of specimens from normal human mammary gland reveals (selectively) interstitial (stromal) cells, with 2-3 long (20-80 microm), thin, moniliform processes. Such cells appear c-kit/CD117 positive, either by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or immunofluorescence (IF). Since these features (affinity for methylene blue, c-kit positivity, and characteristic processes) define archetypal interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in light microscopy, our results suggest the existence of Cajal-like cells in the interstitium of human normal mammary gland.