Interstitial cells of Cajal have recently been identified as pacemaker cells for gastrointestinal motor activity1 and have been implicated in motility disorders such as pseudo-obstruction.2 Maturation of interstitial cells of Cajal is linked to interaction between Steel factor and its Kit tyrosine kinase membrane receptor.3 This has led to the use of anti-Kit antibodies to characterize ICC in normal and pathological tissue. Evidence now suggests that CD34-positive stromal tumors, which have been shown to be Kit-positive, may differentiate into ICC-like cells.
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Huizinga et al. (1998) studied this question.
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