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TY - JOUR AU - Lane, E. B. AU - Hogan, B. L. M. AU - Kurkinen, M. AU - Garrels, J. I. PY - 1983 DA - 1983/06/01 TI - Co-expression of vimentin and cytokeratins in parietal endoderm cells of early mouse embryo JO - Nature SP - 701 EP - 704 VL - 303 IS - 5919 AB - Of the five classes of intermediate filaments found in vertebrate tissues, the cytokeratins are considered unique to epithelial tissues, while vimentin is expressed by endothelial and mesenchymal cells1. In neither case is the precise function of the filament system known. Epithelial cells in culture often express vimentin as well as cytokeratins1–3, but co-expression in vivo, as reported for pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid gland4,5 and metastatic carcinoma cells in ascites or pleural fluid6, is still controversial. Here we report the co-expression of cytokeratins and vimentin in situ, in the parietal endoderm of the mouse embryo 8.5–13.5 days old. This population of individual, motile cells seems to be derived from a conventional epithelium by migration and differentiation. Our results support the idea that vimentin expression is specifically related to reduced cell-to-cell contact, and to the independent existence of a cell following detachment from an epithelial sheet. SN - 1476-4687 UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/303701a0 DO - 10.1038/303701a0 ID - Lane1983 ER -