Nestin Is Expressed in HMB-45 Negative Melanoma Cells in Dermal Parts of Nodular Melanoma
April 2010
in “
The Journal of Dermatology
”
TLDR Nestin helps identify certain melanoma cells in nodular melanoma.
The study investigated the expression of nestin, a marker of neural and hair follicle stem cells, in melanoma. It found that nestin was present in HMB-45-negative melanoma cells in the dermal parts of all 5 cases of amelanotic nodular melanomas and in 7 out of 10 cases of melanotic nodular melanomas. In contrast, nestin expression was absent in 10 out of 12 cases of superficial spreading melanoma. These findings suggested that nestin served as an important marker for identifying HMB-45-negative melanoma cells in the dermal regions of nodular melanoma patients.