Topographic distribution of Thy-1 positive cells in epithelial tissues of BALB/c mice

Epithelial sheets prepared from murine oral epithelia (palate, lining mucosa, gingiva) and oesophagus contained dendritic and round Thy-1 positive (+) cells similar to those observed in epidermis by immunofluorescence microscopy. Bladder, intestine and tracheal epithelium did not contain such cells. Thus, cells bearing the cells-surface glycoprotein Thy-1, like Ia-antigen-bearing Langerhans cells, may be restricted to stratified squamous epithelia.