Liu Chang, Zhang Yanlei, Zhang Kaiyuan, Bian Chen, Zhao Yangang, Zhang Jiqiang
Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China; Cadet Brigade, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Cancer Epidemiol. 2014 Jun;38(3):291-7. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2014.03.001. Epub 2014 Mar 27.
Astrocytic tumors are the most common primary brain tumors. It has been reported that androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptors alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ) and their coactivator SRC-1 and SRC-3 are involved in the regulation of the growth and development of many tumors, but their expression profiles and significances in the astrocytic tumors remain largely unknown. In this study, the expression of AR, ERs, and SRCs, and the possible roles of them in astrocytic neoplasm were evaluated and compared to normal brain tissues by nickel-intensified immunohistochemistry with tissue microarrays. The results showed that there were no age- or gender-differences regarding to the levels of these receptors or coactivators in astrocytic or normal brain tissues. In the high-grade astrocytic tissue, the levels of AR, ERs and SRC-3 were significantly decreased when compared to the low-grade astrocytic tissues, but the levels of SRC-1 remain unchanged. Correlation analysis revealed that the levels of AR, ERs and SRC-3 were negatively correlated to tumor differentiation, and the levels of SRC-3 were positively correlated to that of ERα. Furthermore, the decreased levels of SRC-3 were associated with an increase of ERβ in astrocytic tumors when compared to that of normal brain tissues. These above results indicate a combination of decreased expression of ERs, AR and SRC-3 but not SRC-1 may be involved in the tumorigenesis of gliomas, ERα/SRC-3 axis may play central role in the regulation these tumors.
星形细胞瘤是最常见的原发性脑肿瘤。据报道，雄激素受体（AR）、雌激素受体α（ERα）和β（ERβ）及其共激活因子SRC-1和SRC-3参与了许多肿瘤生长和发育的调控，但它们在星形细胞瘤中的表达谱及意义仍 largely unknown。在本研究中，通过组织芯片镍强化免疫组化评估并比较了AR、ERs和SRCs在星形细胞瘤中的表达及其在星形细胞瘤中的可能作用，并与正常脑组织进行了比较。结果显示，在星形细胞瘤或正常脑组织中，这些受体或共激活因子的水平在年龄或性别上没有差异。在高级别星形细胞瘤组织中，与低级别星形细胞瘤组织相比，AR、ERs和SRC-3的水平显著降低，但SRC-1的水平保持不变。相关性分析显示，AR、ERs和SRC-3的水平与肿瘤分化呈负相关，SRC-3的水平与ERα的水平呈正相关。此外，与正常脑组织相比，星形细胞瘤中SRC-3水平的降低与ERβ的增加有关。上述结果表明，ERs、AR和SRC-3而非SRC-1表达降低的组合可能参与了胶质瘤的发生，ERα/SRC-3轴可能在这些肿瘤的调控中起核心作用。
