Immunofluorescence profile of pre-cNF among sweat ducts and glands.

Immunolabeling of NF1 patient skin biopsies revealed pre-cNF engulfing sweat ducts (sd in B, C) and infiltrating sweat glands (sg in E, F). A, D: Innervation of sd and sg in normal subjects. The sweat ducts normally have an extremely sparse innervation with NF200-positive and NF200-negative fibers (A, B; yellow and green arrows) and virtually no fibers with CGRP (C: green arrow). Normal sweat gland tubules are each surrounded by a loose tangle of fibers of which nearly all revealed by PGP labeling (D-F; green arrows) are cholinergic sympathetic with a sparse contingent of sensory fibers that co-label for NF200 or CGRP (D-F; yellow arrows). In pre-cNF engulfing sweat ducts or embedded within sweat glands (dotted outlines), the densely packed, extremely small-caliber fibers labeled for PGP. A high proportion co-labeled with NF200 (E; yellow compared to green arrowheads). Very few co-labeled for CGRP (F; yellow arrowhead). Scale bar = 50μm.