人脑胶质瘤中连接蛋白基因表达及其临床意义

目的探讨人脑胶质瘤连接蛋白(Cx)43、32基因表达及其临床意义。方法对8例正常脑组织和50例人脑胶质瘤采用Northern印迹和免疫组织化学法检测。结果人脑胶质瘤Cx43mRNA及其蛋白表达阳性率分别为54％、52％，Cx32仅在1例低恶度少枝胶质细胞瘤及1例混合性星形一少枝胶质细胞瘤中表达。Cx43mRNA及其蛋白表达水平随肿瘤恶性程度升高而下降。结论Cx基因在人脑胶质瘤中表达可下降或缺失，与肿瘤的病理类型及恶性程度呈负相关，可作为某些肿瘤的病理诊断参考指标之一。

Expression of connexins gene in human gliomas

Objective To study the expression of connexins (Cx) gene 43,32 in hman gliomas and its clinical significance.Methods Cx43,Cx32 and Cx43mRNA expression of 8 control brain tissues and 50 human cerebral glioma samples was detected by immunohistochemical staining and Northern blot.Results Eight normal brain tissues expressed Cx43 and its mRNA,whereas 27 (54%) and 26 (52%) of 50 human brain tumors expressed Cx43mRNA and its protein respectively.The positive rate and expression level of Cx43 and its mRNA was lowered with the decrease of WHO tumor grade.The difference of positive rate and expression level of Cx43 and its mRNA between the low-grade and high-grade tumors was statistically significant.The results of Northern blot analysis using a cDNA probe performed on 50 tissue samples of hman glioma were coincidence with that of immunohistochemical staining (r=0.913, P< 0.01).Cx32 was only expressed in one case of low-grade oligodendrogliom and one case of low-grade Oligodendro- -astrocytoma.Conclusion In human cerebral gliomas,Cx43 and Cx43mRNA were expressed in great regularity.Cx43 gene expression is correlated with histopathological type and malignant degree of tumors.Cx43 may be a useful tool for histopathological diagnosis.