International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Cd34+ Stromal Cells/Telocytes in Normal and Pathological Skin Lucio Díaz-Flores 1,* , Ricardo Gutiérrez 1, Maria Pino García 2, Miriam González-Gómez 1 , Rosa Rodríguez-Rodriguez 1 , Nieves Hernández-León 1 , Lucio Díaz-Flores, Jr. 1 and José Luís Carrasco 1 1 Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of La Laguna, 38071 Tenerife, Spain;
[email protected] (R.G.);
[email protected] (M.G.-G.);
[email protected] (R.R.-R.);
[email protected] (N.H.-L.);
[email protected] (L.D.-F.J.);
[email protected] (J.L.C.) 2 Department of Pathology, Eurofins Megalab–Hospiten Hospitals, 38100 Tenerife, Spain;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +34-922-319-317; Fax: +34-922-319-279 Abstract: We studied CD34+ stromal cells/telocytes (CD34+SCs/TCs) in pathologic skin, after briefly examining them in normal conditions. We confirm previous studies by other authors in the normal dermis regarding CD34+SC/TC characteristics and distribution around vessels, nerves and cutaneous annexes, highlighting their practical absence in the papillary dermis and presence in the bulge region of perifollicular groups of very small CD34+ stromal cells. In non-tumoral skin pathology, we studied examples of the principal histologic patterns in which CD34+SCs/TCs have (1) a fundamental pathophysiological role, including (a) fibrosing/sclerosing diseases, such as systemic sclerosis, with loss of CD34+SCs/TCs and presence of stromal cells co-expressing CD34 and αSMA, and