The protein expression profile of meningioma cells is associated with distinct cytogenetic tumour subgroups

Limited information exists about the impact of cytogenetic alterations on the protein expression profiles of individual meningioma cells and their association with the clinicohistopathological characteristics of the disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential association between the immunophenotypic profile of single meningioma cells and the most relevant features of the tumour.

Multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) was used to evaluate the immunophenotypic profile of tumour cells (n = 51 patients) and the Affymetrix U133A chip was applied for the analysis of the gene expression profile (n = 40) of meningioma samples, cytogenetically characterized by interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Overall, a close association between the pattern of protein expression and the cytogenetic profile of tumour cells was found. Thus, diploid tumours displayed higher levels of expression of the CD55 complement regulatory protein, tumours carrying isolated monosomy 22/del(22q) showed greater levels of bcl2 and PDGFRβ and meningiomas carrying complex karyotypes displayed a greater proliferation index and decreased expression of the CD13 ectoenzyme, the CD9 and CD81 tetraspanins, and the Her2/neu growth factor receptor. From the clinical point of view, higher expression of CD53 and CD44 was associated with a poorer outcome.

Here we show that the protein expression profile of individual meningioma cells is closely associated with tumour cytogenetics, which may reflect the involvement of different signalling pathways in the distinct cytogenetic subgroups of meningiomas, with specific immunophenotypic profiles also translating into a different tumour clinical behaviour.