Distribution of extracellular matrix proteins in primary human brain tumours: an immunohistochemical analysis

Using immunohistochemical techniques, we localized several glycoproteins of the extracellular matrix in paraffin-embedded sections of 4 normal brain and 38 primary intracranial tumour specimens. All specimens were positively immunostained to various degrees by monoclonal antibodies to type IV collagen and procollagen III and by antisera to laminin and fibronectin. Staining was consistently most intense at sites of contact between neuroepithelial and mesenchymal or leptomeningeal elements; there was no demonstrable staining within or between neuroepithelial elements in the neuropil. Tumour cells from meningiomas and from the sarcomatous portion of a gliosarcoma were positively immunostained for fibronectin and laminin. The integrity of the glial limitans externa was demonstrated by the positive linear reaction product produced by immunostains for type IV collagen and laminin, even in the most malignant gliomas. The deposition of extracellular matrix glycoproteins at the glial-mesenchymal interface observed in this study of primary human brain tumours is a manifestation of one of the interactions between tumour and stromal cells in the central nervous system. A loss of coordination and an alteration in the interactions between epithelial cells and stromal cells across extracellular matrices such as basement membranes are thought to be fundamental steps in the development and progression of cancer. Further characterization studies focusing on other markers of the extracellular matrix are needed to elucidate completely the function of this structure in the central nervous system.