Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230001, PR China.
Oncol Rep. 2012 Jan;27(1):45-50. doi: 10.3892/or.2011.1484. Epub 2011 Oct 3.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most lethal type of brain tumor. The formation of abnormal, dysfunctional tumor vasculature and glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSCs) are believed to be the major components of the inability to treat these tumors effectively. We analyzed 70 glioblastoma samples by immunohistochemistry and double immunofluorescence staining. The immunohistochemical expression of the putative brain tumor stem cell markers CD133 and Nestin in paraffin sections was analyzed using morphometry. In all GBM samples, CD133 or Nestin was expressed in tumor and endothelial cells. Double immunofluorescence stainings showed that the two different marked GSCs were found accumulated around the CD31+ blood vessels and CD133/CD31 or Nestin/CD31 co-expression was found in the endothelial cells and GSCs. Furthermore, the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the endothelial marker CD31 were co-expressed in GSCs. Therefore, GSCs not only showed distinct perivascular distribution but were capable of differentiating into endothelial cells. We demonstrate that GSCs contribute directly to the tumor vasculature by endothelial cell differentiation. GSCs and tumor vascularization are closely related to each other, not only in the regional distribution but also in biological function. These findings describe a new mechanism for tumor vasculo-genesis and may provide new insights for targeted therapy against brain tumors.
多形性胶质母细胞瘤(GBM)是最致命的脑肿瘤类型。异常的、功能失调的肿瘤血管形成和胶质母细胞瘤干细胞样细胞(GSCs)被认为是无法有效治疗这些肿瘤的主要原因。我们通过免疫组织化学和双重免疫荧光染色分析了 70 个胶质母细胞瘤样本。使用形态计量学分析石蜡切片中假定的脑肿瘤干细胞标志物 CD133 和巢蛋白的免疫组织化学表达。在所有 GBM 样本中,CD133 或巢蛋白在肿瘤细胞和内皮细胞中表达。双重免疫荧光染色显示,两个不同标记的 GSCs 聚集在 CD31+血管周围,并且在内皮细胞和 GSCs 中发现 CD133/CD31 或 Nestin/CD31 共表达。此外,血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)和内皮标志物 CD31 在 GSCs 中共表达。因此,GSCs 不仅表现出明显的血管周围分布,而且能够分化为内皮细胞。我们证明 GSCs 通过内皮细胞分化直接促进肿瘤血管生成。GSCs 和肿瘤血管化彼此密切相关,不仅在区域分布上,而且在生物学功能上也是如此。这些发现描述了肿瘤血管生成的新机制,并可能为针对脑肿瘤的靶向治疗提供新的见解。