Morphometrical analysis of nucleolin immunohistochemistry in meningiomas

Nucleolin (110 kDa) is a major nucleolar protein in eukaryotic cells and one of the nucleolar organizer region (NOR)-associated proteins. We studied immunohistochemically 32 cases of meningioma, using specific antisera against nucleolin, and analyzed various nucleolin parameters, such as the number of regions and the total area of nucleolin staining per nucleus. The mean number and area of nucleolin stainings per nucleus were compared with the histological malignancy and Ki-67/MIB-1 proliferation index; the correlation with parameters of silver-stained NOR (AgNOR) was also studied. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the mean number and area of nucleolin stainings per nucleus between meningiomas and other two groups, atypical and anaplastic meningiomas (P < 0.05), although there was no difference between atypical and anaplastic meningiomas. The mean number and area of nucleolin stainings per nucleus were correlated with the incidence of Ki-67 positivity and AgNOR area. In view of the technical problems inherent in AgNOR staining, immunohistochemistry for nucleolin may represent a more specific and reproducible means for NOR visualization and be a promising technique for assessing cell proliferation.