S-100 immunoreactivity in melanomas of two marsupials, a bird, and a reptile

• Published in: Veterinary pathology Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 615 - 618
• Main Authors: Kusewitt, D.F, Reece, R.L, Miska, K.B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.1997
• Subjects: ANIMAL PROTEINS; ANIMAL SALVAJE; ANIMAL SAUVAGE; Animals; Bird Diseases - diagnosis; Bird Diseases - pathology; BIRDS; CHEMISTRY; CHIMIE; CITOPLASMA; CYTOPLASM; CYTOPLASME; DIAGNOSIS; DIAGNOSTIC; DIAGNOSTICO; ENFERMEDADES INMUNOLOGICAS; Female; Immune Sera - analysis; Immune Sera - immunology; IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY; Immunohistochemistry - methods; IMMUNOLOGICAL DISEASES; IMMUNOLOGIE; IMMUNOLOGY; IMMUNOPATHOLOGY; INMUNOLOGIA; MALADIE IMMUNOLOGIQUE; MARSUPIAL; Marsupialia; MARSUPIALS; Melanocytes - chemistry; Melanocytes - pathology; MELANOMA; Melanoma - chemistry; Melanoma - pathology; Melanoma - veterinary; MELANOME; OISEAU; PAJAROS; PROTEINAS; PROTEINE; PROTEINS; QUIMICA; Rabbits; REPTILE; REPTILES; S100 Proteins - analysis; S100 Proteins - immunology; Skin - chemistry; Skin - pathology; Skin Neoplasms - chemistry; Skin Neoplasms - diagnosis; Skin Neoplasms - pathology; Skin Neoplasms - veterinary; WILD ANIMALS; Birds; melanoma; immunohistochemistry; skin neoplasms; marsupialia; reptiles
• ISSN: 0300-9858; 1544-2217
• DOI: 10.1177/030098589703400610

S-100 proteins are abundant in melanocytes of the skin; thus, S-100 immunoreactivity has been used as a diagnostic criterion for melanoma in humans and other placental mammals. We tested cutaneous melanomas of two marsupials, a bird, and a snake for S-100 immunoreactivity, using a polyclonal rabbit antibovine S-100 antibody. The tumor from a Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii) was composed of large epithelioid cells, most of which had S-100–positive cytoplasm. In general, there were only scattered individual spindle-shaped S-100–positive cells or groups of cells in the primary mass from a Spotted-tailed Quoll (Dasyurus maculates); S-100 staining was primarily nuclear. Cells comprising the melanomas of the Australian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) and the Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) were S-100–negative, although peripheral nerve bundles in both were S-100–positive.