title: Immunocytochemical evidence of molecular photoreceptor markers in cerebellar medulloblastomas.
abstract: With the use of antisera against bovine retinal S-antigen and bovine opsin the authors demonstrate that in cerebellar medulloblastomas certain tumor cells display immunocytochemical properties characteristic of retinal photoreceptors and pinealocytes. S-antigen-like and opsin-like immunoreactions occur in nine of 28 medulloblastomas investigated. All tumors displaying S-antigen-like immunoreactive neoplastic cells also contain opsin-like immunoreactive cells; however, the opsin-like immunoreactive cells were less frequent than the S-antigen-like immunoreactive cells throughout all positive cases. The immunoreactive cells displayed several long processes. Generally, both S-antigen and opsin-like immunoreactive cells considerably vary in number among individual tumors. The results indicate that certain neoplastic cells of medulloblastoma are capable of expression of photoreceptor-specific proteins and, thus, may be closely related to tumor cells of retinoblastoma and pineocytomas previously shown to bind antisera against retinal S-antigen and opsin. No S-antigen and opsin-like immunoreaction was found in malignant teratomas and germinomas of the pineal gland, oat cell tumors, astrocytomas, ependymomas, oligodendrogliomas, glioblastomas, gangliogliomas, gangliocytoma, ganglioneuroblastomas, neuroblastomas, and esthesioneuroblastoma.
mesh_terms: D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000032:analysis* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000032:analysis* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000032:analysis*; D012168:Retinal Pigments / Q000032:analysis*; D017299:Rod Opsins; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D005136:Eye Proteins; D012168:Retinal Pigments; D017299:Rod Opsins; D009418:S100 Proteins