Stage-Specific Embryonic Antigen-4 (SSEA-4) as a Distinguishing Marker Between Eccrine and Apocrine Origin of Ducts of Sweat Glands
July 2017
in “
Journal of Investigative Dermatology
”
TLDR SSEA-4 can distinguish between eccrine and apocrine sweat gland ducts.
The study investigated the presence of stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 (SSEA-4) in the ductal cells of eccrine and apocrine sweat glands. Skin biopsy samples from 9 healthy patients revealed that SSEA-4 was consistently expressed in eccrine ducts but not in apocrine ducts. This finding suggested that SSEA-4 could serve as a distinguishing marker between the two types of sweat gland ducts, which was significant for tumor diagnostics. The study concluded that SSEA-4 was the first antigen enabling histological distinction between eccrine and apocrine sweat gland ducts, potentially aiding in the development of diagnostic markers for sweat gland carcinomas.