Robert H. Eibl

Comparative Study of p53 Gene and Protein Alterations in Human Astrocytic Tumors

The p53 gene is a tumor suppressor gene involved in many common malignancies, including astrocytomas. Genetic analysis of the p53 gene and immunohistochemistry of the p53 protein have each been used to screen astrocytomas. To compare these methods, we performed immunohistochemistry with the monoclonal antibody PAb 1801 and single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) with sequence analysis on 34 astrocytic tumors (WHO grades II, III and IV). Seven cases had detectable p53 protein and gene mutations, while twelve cases had neither detectable protein nor gene mutations. Four tumors had frameshift mutations in the p53 gene that were not revealed by immunohistochemistry. One tumor had a genetic polymorphism and no detectable p53 protein. Ten tumors had p53 protein accumulation but no mutations by SSCP; these cases may represent p53 mutations outside of the conserved exons or elevated levels of wild-type p53 protein. Thus, some p53 mutations are missed with PAb 1801 immunohistochemistry alone. p53 immunohistochemistry, however, may reveal p53 accumulation independent of mutations in the conserved portions of the gene. Finally, we suggest that glioblastomas with p53 mutations in the conserved region of the gene may be a subset that are more common in women and in younger patients.

Expression of variant CD44 epitopes in human astrocytic brain tumors

Expression of CD44 and of specific splice-variants of CD44 has been causally related to metastatic behaviour in a variety of carcinomas and lymphomas. To elucidate whether, in principle, similar splice-variants could be involved in glioma cell invasion we examined the expression of CD44 and its splice-variants in a series of 38 primary human brain tumors (28 astrocytomas, WHO grade I-III and 10 glioblastomas, WHO grade IV) and in cell lines derived from 9 glioblastomas. All brain tumors examined showed strong immunoreactivity for an N-terminal epitope present on all CD44 isoforms known. Using a polyclonal antiserum raised against the complete sequence encoded by variant exons v3 to v10, CD44 splice-variants could be detected irrespective of the grade of malingnancy in many of the tumor samples at a low level and often restricted to only a few clustered tumor cells. Thus, the N-terminal epitope probably indicates the presence of the smallest and most ubiquitous isoform CD44s. Interestingly, all glioblastomas expressed CD44 variants whereas expression in astrocytomas WHO grade I, II, and III could only be detected in about half of the tumor samples.Using reverse transcriptase-PCR we were able to detect different CD44 splice-variants in the glioblastoma cell lines and in cultured primary astrocytic cells. Glioblastoma cells analyzed by flow cytometry showed the expected binding capacity for hyaluronic acid which could be increased twofold after pretreatment with hyaluronidase.The results presented show that there is low expression of CD44 variants in human tumors of astrocytic origin. Expression of CD44 and its splice-variants could contribute to the migration capacity of neoplastic astrocytes, and may be considered as a target for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in the clinical management of brain tumors.

Tumor induction by ras and myc oncogenes in fetal and neonatal brain : modulating effects of developmental stage and retroviral dose

Introduction into fetal rat brain cells of a replication-defective retroviral vector harboring v-Ha-ras and v-gag-myc rapidly causes the induction of highly malignant undifferentiated neuroectodermal tumors following transplantation into the brains of syngeneic hosts [Wiestler, et al. (1992) Cancer Res. 52: 3760–3767]. In the present study, we have investigated the modulating effect of the developmental stage of neural target cells and of the dose of the retroviral vector used in the grafting experiments. Exposure of fetal cells from embryonic day (E)12 or E14 produced a 100% incidence of malignant neuroectodermal tumors which led to the death of recipient animals after a median latency period of 32 days. A 100-fold reduction of the virus dose from 2.062×106 to 2.062×104 focus-forming units/ml resulted in a lower tumor incidence of 25%. Of six neural grafts exposed to v-Ha-ras and v-myc at E16, only one showed evidence of tumorigenesis (low-grade astrocytoma and hemangioma). All other transplants were morphologically normal for observation periods of 26 weeks, indicating a marked loss of transforming activity of ras and myc in more advanced stages of brain development. In retrovirus-exposed donor cells which caused the development of neural tumors in recipient rats, malignant transformation was also evident during culture in vitro, usually after 9–12 days. Oncogene complementation was also studied in the newborn rat brain. After microinjection of the retroviral vector into the brain at postnatal day (P)0, P1 and P3, 5 out of 20 animals (25%) developed a total of seven brain tumors. Histopathologically, three of these neoplasms were malignant neuroectodermal tumors which, in contrast to those induced in fetal brain transplants showed evidence of focal glial and/or neuronal differentiation. In addition, we observed one oligodendroglioma, two hemangiomas and a malignant hemangioendothelioma. These data indicate that neural precursor cells and endothelia of the rat brain represent the major target cells for the complementary action of ras and myc and that the use of target cells from later developmental stages (E16 and postnatal) leads to the induction of both primitive and more differentiated neoplasms.

Type and frequency of p53 mutations in tumors of the nervous system and its coverings.

The p53 tumor suppressor gene encodes a nuclear phosphoprotein which is involved in the regulation of cell proliferation (Boyd and Barrett 1990). The wild-type p53 gene acts as a tumor suppressor gene, whereas some p53 mutations occurring within highly conserved regions not only cause loss of tumor suppressor function but may activate p53 to an oncogene in a dominant negative fashion (Finlay et al. 1989; Eiyahu et al. 1989). A variety of human tumors have been shown to contain either a loss of both alleles of the p53 gene, a loss of one allele of the p53 gene, and one p53 allele with an associated point mutation, insertion, or deletion of the remaining allele or an inactivation of the p53 gene in one allele but a normal (wild-type) sequence in the other. The rapidly accumulating data on p53 genetic alterations indicate that it may constitute the gene most frequently involved in human oncogenesis (Hollstein et al. 1991; Levine et al. 1991). In this review, we summarize all the available data on p53 mutations in human nervous system tumors.

Oncogene Transfer into the Brain

With the spectacular advances in the characterization of genes associated with brain tumors and other neurological disorders, experimental approaches to stably introduce and express foreign genes in vivo have recently evolved as an important tool to study the specific pathogenetic role of candidate genes. A well-characterized and frequently used model are transgenic mice (Wagner 1990; Hanahan 1989; Pattengale et al. 1989). These animals are generated by introduction of DNA constructs into fertilized eggs or into embryonic stem cells. They carry copies of the transgene in all somatic and germ cells and stably transmit the gene to their offspring in a Mendelian fashion. Transcription of the transgene is critically dependent on regulatory sequences. Using specific promoter elements, it is possible to achieve cell- and tissue-specific expression. Cross-breeding of transgenic lines which carry distinct transgenes allows to study the combined effects of the respective genes in vivo.