Age-related cell surface proteins of human astrocytoma cells in culture

The 125I labelling patterns of the cell surface proteins of human malignant astrocytoma cells in culture have been analysed with respect to patient age. 125I incorporation into two groups of proteins of MWs 26K and 49K increased with patient age. For the 49K group (but not the 26K group), the tumours tended to segregate into two groups related to tumour grade. These findings may be relevant in the context of the reported patterns of resistance of malignant astrocytoma to chemotherapy and the use of patient age as a prognostic factor for these tumours.