Naturally occurring mucoepidermoid carcinoma in the submandibular salivary gland of two mice.

Mucoepidermoid carcinomas in two mice were investigated histologically, immunohistochemically and ultrastructurally. The neoplastic cells showed divergent differentiation into periodic acid-Schiff-positive mucous cells, keratin-positive squamous cells, and cells with both mucous granules and sheaves of tonofilaments. Gland formation and keratinization were not observed. At the periphery of tumour cell nests, some cells were immunolabelled for smooth muscle actin or contained concentrated thin filaments, and these observations were interpreted to indicate that murine mucoepidermoid carcinomas are associated with both myoepithelium and duct epithelium.