AE1/AE3 is an antibody cocktail that is used in immunohistochemistry, being generally positive in the cytoplasm of carcinomas (cancers of epithelial origin).[1][2]
- Left panel shows H&E staining and low magnification, where any presence of small metastases is hard to see.
- Middle panel shows immunohistochemistry for CK AE1/AE3, which highlights even small tumor nests.
- The right panel shows high magnification on a positive area, confirming adenocarcinoma, as it shows tumor cells with large nuclei and prominent nucleoli.
Targets
editThe antibody cocktail binds to cytokeratin 1 - 8, 10, 14 - 16 and 19 (but not CK17 or CK18).[1] It is therefore used as a marker of carcinomas, such as depth of invasion and metastases.[1] For example, it is both relatively sensitive and specific for detection of breast cancer metastasis to sentinel lymph nodes.[3]
It may cross-react with GFAP, leading to aberrant staining of glial tumors such as ependymoma, glioblastoma and schwannoma.[1] It may also stain myofibroblasts and smooth muscle cells.[1] Furthermore, it may stain nodal epithelial cells that has contaminated a tumor from recent biopsy.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Stains - Cytokeratin AE1 / AE3". PathologyOutlines. 2013-07-01. Revised: 26 November 2019
- ^ Cytoplasmic stain: "Pan Cytokeratin [AE1/AE3]". BioCare Medical. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
- ^ Xu X, Roberts SA, Pasha TL, Zhang PJ (2000). "Undesirable cytokeratin immunoreactivity of native nonepithelial cells in sentinel lymph nodes from patients with breast carcinoma". Arch Pathol Lab Med. 124 (9): 1310–3. doi:10.5858/2000-124-1310-UCIONN. PMID 10975928.
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