Wnt/β-catenin信号转导途径相关分子在脑干胶质瘤中的表达及其意义

Expression and significance of components related to Wnt/β-catenin signal transduction pathway in brainstem gliomas

目的 通过检测Wnt/β-catenin信号转导途径相关分子在脑干胶质瘤中的表达,探讨其在脑干胶质瘤发生发展中的作用.方法 选取2009年5月至2011年5月首都医科大学附属北京天坛医院神经外科收集的24例脑干胶质瘤标本（包括16例低级别脑干胶质瘤和8例高级别脑干胶质瘤）和6例正常脑组织标本.采用Western blot及免疫组化方法检测Wnt-1、Wnt-2、β-catenin及C-myc在正常脑组织及不同级别的脑干胶质瘤中的表达,并分析其与临床病理相关因素之间的关系.结果 Wnt-1在高、低级别脑干胶质瘤中的表达均高于正常脑组织（P＜0.05）,而在高级别和低级别脑干胶质瘤中的表达差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）;Wnt-2、β-catenin及C-myc在高级别脑干胶质瘤中的表达均明显高于其在低级别脑干胶质瘤和正常脑组织中的表达,并与Ki-67的表达呈正相关（P＜0.05）;Wnt-2及C-myc的表达与脑干胶质瘤患者的预后相关（P＜0.05）,而3-catenin随着表达的增高,总体生存期有缩短的趋势（P＞0.05）.结论 Wnt/β-catenin信号通路在脑干胶质瘤中可能被异常激活,在胶质瘤的发生及发展中发挥着重要作用;Wnt-2、β-catenin和C-myc可作为脑干胶质瘤预后标记分子,并有望成为脑干胶质瘤治疗的潜在靶点.

Objective To explore the role of Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway in the tumorigenesis and progression of brainstem gliomas by detecting the expression of Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway related components.Methods The samples were collected from patients with glioma and patients with primary epilepsy in Beijing Tiantan Hospital from May 2009 to May 2011.This study used Western blot and immunohistochemistrical methods to detect the expression of Wnt-1,Wnt-2,β-catenin and C-myc in six cases of normal brain tissues and 24 cases of brainstem gliomas,and analyzed the relationships between their expression and clinicopathological characteristics.Results The expression of Wnt-1 was higher in brainstem gliomas than that in normal brain tissues （P 〈 0.05）.However,there was no significant difference between high-and low-grade brainstem gliomas （P 〉 0.05）.The expressions of Wnt-2,β-catenin and C-myc in high-grade brainstem gliomas were significantly higher than those in low-grade brainstem gliomas and normal brain tissues,and were positively correlated with the expression of Ki-67 （P 〈 0.05）.The expression of Wnt-2 and C-myc was significantly associated with the prognosis of brainstem glioma patients（P 〈 0.05）.Additionally,there was a trend toward increased β-catenin expression with shorter survival,but there was no statistical difference （P 〉 0.05）.Conclusions Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway might be abnormally activated and play an important role in the occurrence and development of brainstem gliomas.Wnt-2,β-catenin and C-myc could be used as markers for the prognosis of brainstem gliomas,which also were potential targets for brainstem glioma treatment.