Isozyme pattern of enolase of childhood tumors.

Retinoblastoma, neuroblastoma, and medulloblastoma have many common features, clinical as well as histologic; a common embryonic origin has been suggested. The authors studied the electrophoretic pattern of enolase (EC 4.2.1.11) in these tumors. All tumors were characterized by the presence of three types of enolase, designated as alpha alpha, alpha gamma and gamma gamma. The latter is supposed to be the neuron-specific enolase. Normal adult brain and adult retina show the same set of isozymes (alpha alpha, alpha gamma and gamma gamma). In contrast, gliomas of childhood, tumors originating from the supportive tissue of the central nervous system, are characterized mainly by the presence of the alpha alpha dimer and a small amount of the alpha gamma hybrid. The results of this report support the hypothesis of a common embryonic origin of retinoblastoma, neuroblastoma, and medulloblastoma.