title: Expression of VAV1 in the tumour microenvironment of glioblastoma multiforme.
abstract: Even though much progress has been made towards understanding the molecular nature of glioma, the survival rates of patients affected by this tumour have not changed significantly over recent years. Better knowledge of this malignancy is still needed in order to predict its outcome and improve patient treatment. VAV1 is an GDP/GTP exchange factor for Rho/Rac proteins with oncogenic potential that is involved in the regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics and cell migration. Here we report its overexpression in 59 patients diagnosed with high-grade glioma, and the associated upregulation of a number of genes coding for proteins also involved in cell invasion- and migration-related processes. Unexpectedly, immunohistochemical experiments revealed that VAV1 is not expressed in glioma cells. Instead, VAV1 is found in non-tumoural astrocyte-like cells that are located either peritumouraly or perivascularly. We propose that the expression of VAV1 is linked to synergistic signalling cross-talk between cancer and infiltrating cells. Interestingly, we show that the pattern of expression of VAV1 could have a role in the neoplastic process in glioblastoma tumours.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, IECSCYL-Hospital Universitario de Salamanca. IBSAL, IBMCC (USALCSIC), Paseo San Vicente 58, 37007, Salamanca, Spain. jlgarcia@usal.es
authors.forename: Juan Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Couceiro
authors.forename: Juan Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gomez-Moreta
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gonzalez Valero
authors.forename: Angel Santos
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Briz
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sauzeau
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lumbreras
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robledo
authors.forename: Monica Lara
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Almunia
authors.forename: Xose R
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Bustelo
authors.forename: Jesus M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hernandez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D055028:Comparative Genomic Hybridization; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D051567:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-vav / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D020239:Receptor Cross-Talk / Q000502:physiology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D051567:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-vav; C496618:VAV1 protein, human