LYMPHATIC ENDOTHELIUM AND KAPOSIS-SARCOMA SPINDLE CELLS DETECTED BY ANTIBODIES AGAINST THE VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH-FACTOR RECEPTOR-3

Lymphatic vessels have been difficult to study in detail in normal and tumor tissues because of the lack of molecular markers. sere, monoclo nal antibodies against the extracellular domain of the vascular endoth elial growth factor-C receptor that we have named VEGFR-3 were found t o specifically stain endothelial cells of lymphatic vessels and vessel s around tumors such as lymphoma and in situ breast carcinoma, Interes tingly, the spindle cells of several cutaneous nodular AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcomas and the endothelium around the nodules were also VE GFR-3 positive. The first specific molecular marker for the lymphatic endothelium should provide a useful tool for the analysis of lymphatic vessels in malignant tumors and their metastases and the cellular ori gin and differentiation of Kaposi's sarcomas.