Expression of CD15 in tumours of the nervous system.
The expression of the CD15 epitope was investigated by immunohistochemistry, western blotting and immuno-thin-layer chromatography on a large series of human nervous system tumours and ethylnitrosourea-induced rat gliomas. Our results show that CD15 is expressed as a glycoprotein- or glycolipid-associated epitope in normal human and rat brain. In contrast, immunoreactivity for CD15 was absent in tumour cells of experimental rat gliomas. In human tumours we found a more complex expression pattern. While intra- and perivascular granulocytes as well as macrophages in necrotic areas of anaplastic tumours were always strongly CD15-positive, immunoreactive tumour cells were detectable only in a fraction of low-grade gliomas. Anaplastic gliomas and glioblastomas consistently did not express the epitope on their tumour cells. In addition to individual low-grade gliomas, we found CD15-positive cases among metastatic carcinomas, craniopharyngeomas, meningiomas, germinomas and malignant melanomas. Our results suggest that immunohistochemistry for CD15 is potentially useful in diagnostic neuropathology as a marker for granulocytes in paraffin sections, as a supplementary tool for the histopathological grading of gliomas, and as an aid for differentiation between anaplastic glioma cells and non-neoplastic glia. Furthermore, it can be speculated that the lack of CD15 expression on anaplastic glioma cells may potentially be responsible for some of their characteristics--such as altered cellular interaction and loss of contact inhibition.
Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
G
G
Reifenberger
P
P
Sieth
M
M
Niederhaus
W
W
Wechsler
D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D005910:Glioma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016256:Lewis X Antigen; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D009423:Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology*; D009439:Neuraminidase; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D051381:Rats; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016256:Lewis X Antigen; D009439:Neuraminidase