page_title: Vimentin
hierarchical_section_title: Vimentin
caption_attribution_description: English: HeLa cells stained with antibody to lysosomal LAMP1 in red and antibody to filament protein vimentin in green. Nuclear DNA shown in blue.
context_page_description: Vimentin is a structural protein that in humans is encoded by the VIM gene. Its name comes from the Latin vimentum which refers to an array of flexible rods.
  Vimentin is a type III intermediate filament protein that is expressed in mesenchymal cells. IF proteins are found in all animal cells as well as bacteria. IF, along with tubulin-based microtubules and actin-based microfilaments, comprises the cytoskeleton. All IF proteins are expressed in a highly developmentally-regulated fashion; vimentin is the major cytoskeletal component of mesenchymal cells. Because of this, vimentin is often used as a marker of mesenchymally-derived cells or cells undergoing an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition during both normal development and metastatic progression.
context_section_description: Vimentin is a structural protein that in humans is encoded by the VIM gene. Its name comes from the Latin vimentum which refers to an array of flexible rods.
  Vimentin is a type III intermediate filament (IF) protein that is expressed in mesenchymal cells. IF proteins are found in all animal cells as well as bacteria. IF, along with tubulin-based microtubules and actin-based microfilaments, comprises the cytoskeleton. All IF proteins are expressed in a highly developmentally-regulated fashion; vimentin is the major cytoskeletal component of mesenchymal cells. Because of this, vimentin is often used as a marker of mesenchymally-derived cells or cells undergoing an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during both normal development and metastatic progression.
caption: Immunofluorescence staining of  HeLa Cells with antibody to reveal vimentin containing intermediate filaments in green and antibody to LAMP1 to reveal lysosomes in red. Nuclear DNA is seen in blue. Antibodies and image courtesy  EnCor Biotechnology Inc.
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