Shift in AP-2alpha localization characterizes astrocytoma progression

Activator protein 2alpha (AP-2alpha) has been shown to be lost in the advanced stages of many cancers, including gliomas. In this study, we wanted to analyze the expression of AP-2alpha in astrocytoma samples of different grades both at the RNA level, by real-time qPCR and at the protein level, by immunohistochemistry, and to examine its correlation, if any, with patient outcome. Five Grade I, 14 Grade II, 18 Grade III, 72 Grade IV samples and 13 normal brain controls were included. We did not find any clear pattern of regulation at the RNA level with tumor grade. The RNA expression levels however, correlated to a large extent with the nuclear AP-2alpha staining in these samples (72.09%; 31/43). Further, we did not find a complete loss of nuclear AP-2alpha expression in the higher grades, in contrast to previous reports. Interestingly, we found cytoplasmic AP-2alpha expression in a majority of higher grade astrocytomas (Grade IV-85%; 33/39 and Grade III-74%; 14/19) in comparison to lower grades (Grade I-0%; 0/5 and Grade II-37.5%; 3/8) suggesting that the translocation of this protein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm may be responsible for the increased malignancy. The nuclear expression in these grades was found to be concomitantly reduced. Within GBMs, we found that decreased nuclear expression was indicative of a better prognosis. The striking observation was the shift in localization of this protein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm with increasing tumor grade, pointing to a crucial role for this transcription factor in the progression of astrocytomas.