Differential expression of stem cell markers in proliferating cells in glioma

The identification of prognostically and therapeutically relevant molecular markers is fundamental to the further development of personalised therapies in brain tumours. Current therapeutic options for the treatment of gliomas rely mainly on surgical resection and the inhibition of tumour cell proliferation by irradiation and chemotherapy. Glioma stem cells are a subpopulation of proliferating tumour cells that have self-renewal capacity and can give rise to heterogeneous cells that comprise the tumour and are thought to play a role in the resistance of gliomas to therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of markers of glioma stem cells and differentiated glial cells in proliferating glioma cells in comparison to the overall expression of the respective markers in the tumour tissue.

Tissue microarrays were assembled from specimen of pilocytic astrocytoma, diffuse astrocytoma, anaplastic astrocytoma, glioblastoma, oligodendroglioma, anaplastic oligodendroglioma, ependymoma, and anaplastic ependymoma. These were immunohistochemically double stained with antibodies against the proliferation-associated antigen Ki67 and marker proteins for glioma stem cells (CD133, Nestin, Musashi, CD15, CD44), and differentiated glioma cells (GFAP, MAP2c).

The expression of both glial and glioma stem cell markers differs between proliferating and non-proliferating glioma cells. Furthermore, the proliferating cells in the different glial tumour entities show a different expression profile.

Further analysis of marker expression in proliferating glioma cells and correlation with clinical outcome and susceptibility to irradiation and chemotherapy might help establish new biomarkers and therapies for glioma.