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  • According to the World Health

    2022-01-26

    According to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification, oligodendrogliomas or anaplastic oligodendrogliomas are primary neoplasms of the central nervous system, which are predominantly composed of cells morphologically resembling oligodendrocytes [23]. These tumors are often estimated to represent less than 10% of all glial tumors [19]; however, the actual frequency of oligodendrogliomas may have been largely underestimated because of lack of specific markers of tumoral oligodendrocytes. Oligoastrocytomas or anaplastic oligoastrocytomas are mixed gliomas which show a substantial proportion of neoplastic oligodendrocytes and astrocytes [23]. The histological features of anaplasia used for the distinction of grade III (anaplastic) from grade II oligogendrogliomas or oligoastrocytomas include nuclear atypia, cellular pleomorphism, high cellularity, and high mitotic activity. In addition, microvascular proliferation and necrosis may be present. We recently observed that oligodendrogliomas and oligoastrocytomas may grow slowly for many years as isolated tumor cells that permeate the rta 3 parenchyma, without microangiogenesis. The emergence of microangiogenesis was shown to be associated with the formation of foci of solid tumor tissue and to represent a crucial event toward more aggressive behavior [14], [15]. In line with this observation, we have proposed a new grading system of oligodendrogliomas and oligoastrocytomas in which endothelial hyperplasia and contrast enhancement, both reflecting microangiogenesis, discriminate two grades of malignancy. The grade A is identified by the absence of endothelial hyperplasia and of contrast enhancement, whereas the grade B corresponds to the presence of at least one of these two characters [14], [15]. Accordingly, we have found that expression of the angiogenic factor VEGF is rarely detected in grade A tumors but is constantly observed in grade B tumors [49]. In order to assess the potential involvement of the ET-1 system in the progression of oligodendrogliomas and oligoastrocytomas, we have performed an immunohistochemical analysis of ET-1 receptor subtype expression in these tumors. In parallel, we assessed the corresponding expression patterns of glioblastomas, that are known as highly angiogenic brain tumors. Based on our observations, we then investigated, in primary cultures of oligodendroglial tumor cells, the functional relevance of ET-1 receptor subtype expression. We report here the selective expression in oligodendrogliomas of ETB-R functionally coupled to several intracellular pathways and its possible involvement in cell survival.
    Materials and methods
    Results
    Discussion The most important observations of the present study are the differential expression of ET-1 receptor subtypes (ETA-R and ETB-R) in primary human gliomas together with their nuclear localization in tumor cells. Indeed, ETB-R was expressed, independently of tumor grade, in the nucleus of tumor cells of most oligodendrogliomas and oligoastrocytomas, but not of glioblastomas, whereas ETA-R, when detected, was found exclusively in the nucleus of glioblastoma tumor cells. Using primary cultures of grade B oligodendrogliomas, we have evidenced the functional coupling of ETB-R to intracellular signaling pathways (ERK and FAK activation, stress fiber formation) in these tumor cells. Interestingly, our in vitro study with ET-1 receptor subtype specific antagonists demonstrates that ET-1 binding to ETB-R mediates the survival of cultured oligodendroglial tumor cells. The expression of the endothelins ET-1 and ET-3 and their receptors was extensively described in human and rat brains. Endothelin genes and proteins have been identified in various cerebral areas: cortex, hypothalamus, hippocampus, substantia nigra, and amygdala. At the cellular level, ETs are present in neurons, astrocytes, and vascular endothelial cells, whereas ETA-R is expressed by neurons and ETB-R by astrocytes and endothelial cells [47]. Our observations with non-neoplastic brain tissue confirmed this pattern of expression of ET-1 system components. Synthesis of ET-1 is also known to occur in several human tumors including gliomas [17], [32]. Our observations extend these data to other types of glioblastomas (oligoastrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas) and document the expression and function of ET-1 receptor subtypes in these tumors.