Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2026
Intracranial Orthotopic Allografting of Medulloblastoma Cells in Immunocompromised Mice
Published on: October 3, 2010
Alpha-internexin expression in medulloblastomas and atypical teratoid-rhabdoid tumors
1Department of Pathology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
Objective:
To determine whether medulloblastomas and atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors express alpha-internexin, an intermediate filament protein that is expressed in normal neurons undergoing maturation and differentiation.
Materials And Methods:
28 medulloblastomas and 5 atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors were examined for the immunohistochemical expression of alpha-internexin, as well as the neuronal markers peripherin and synaptophysin, and glial fibrillary acidic protein.
Results:
Overall, 21 of 28 medulloblastomas (75%) expressed alpha-internexin. More specifically, alpha-internexin expression was observed in 6 of 10 (60%) classic medulloblastomas, 12 of 14 (86%) desmoplastic medulloblastomas, 2 of 3 (67%) nodular medulloblastomas, and in one medullomyoblastoma. Similarly, 4 of 5 (80%) atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors expressed alpha-internexin. The extent of staining for alpha-internexin tended to be less than that of synaptophysin for both medulloblastomas (75% vs 93%) and atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (80% vs 100%). In contrast to alpha-internexin, peripherin was expressed in only 4 medulloblastomas and one atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor.
Conclusions:
Alpha-internexin is expressed in the majority of medulloblastomas and atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors, indicating that these primitive tumors usually exhibit neuronal differentiation.
