Figure 2

Classification of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of mesothelium cells. Classification of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was based on cellular morphology and surface markers. Mesothelial cells (MCs) were collected from dialysate, and primary cell cultures were performed. Upper panel: Photomicrographs (×200) of the confluent monolayers of the MCs. Lower panel: Flow-cytometric histograms of the MCs stained with cytokeratin 18 monoclonal antibodies. If the MC cellular morphology was epithelioid-like with a cytokeratin 18 expression of >70%, the patient was considered “Non EMT” (N = 15). If the morphology appeared fibroblast-like, and cytokeratin 18 expression was <70%, the patient was considered “EMT” (N = 25). If the cellular morphology was a mixture of epithelioid- and fibroblast-like and had a double peak in the flow cytometry profile for cytokeratin 18, the patient was considered “Mixed” (N = 8).