title: Increased β-catenin/Tcf signaling in pilocytic astrocytomas: a comparative study to distinguish pilocytic astrocytomas from low-grade diffuse astrocytomas.
abstract: Although pilocytic and diffuse grade II astrocytomas considered as low-grade tumors, the distinction between them is still a major clinical problem. Previously we reported the activation of Wnt/β-catenin/Tcf signaling pathway in diffuse astrocytomas, however its role in pilocytic astrocytomas is not well understood. In this study, we investigated the Wnt/β-catenin/Tcf pathway in pilocytic astrocytomas and compared with diffuse astrocytomas. We observed the differential expression of β-catenin, Tcf4, Lef1 and c-Myc in astrocytomas particularly higher levels were observed in pilocytic astrocytomas and GBM while very little expression was documented in grade II tumors. Further, immunohistochemical analysis revealed the strong positivity of β-catenin, Tcf4, Lef1 and c-Myc in pilocytic astrocytomas than that of grade II tumors and also exhibited the strong positivity in vascular endothelial cells of pilocytic astrocytomas and GBM. Hence, Wnt/β-catenin/Tcf signaling pathway is differentially expressed in astrocytomas, activation of this pathway might be helpful in separating pilocytic astrocytomas from low-grade diffuse astrocytomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500046, India.
authors.forename: Gangadhara Reddy
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Sareddy
authors.forename: Khamushavalli
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Geeviman
authors.forename: Manas
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Panigrahi
authors.forename: Sundaram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Challa
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahadevan
authors.forename: Phanithi Prakash
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Babu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D051820:TCF Transcription Factors; D051176:beta Catenin