Differential expression of Notch1 and Notch2 in astrocytoma and medulloblastoma / 中华病理学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the differential expression of Notch1 and Notch2 in human astrocytoma and medulloblastoma; and to study the role of Notch1 and Notch2 in the development of both tumors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemical staining (SP method) and Western blot analysis were used to detect Notch1 and Notch2 expression in tissue arrays and freshly resected samples of normal brain tissue, astrocytoma and medulloblastoma.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Notch1 and Notch2 were negative in normal human brain tissue. Notch1 was highly expressed (total positive rate 80.0%, 48/60) while Notch2 was not detected in grade IV astrocytomas and sporadically observed in lower grade astrocytomas (total positive rate 10.0%, 6/60). The percentage of positive tumor cells and expression level of Notch1 increased with higher histologic grade (r = 0.859, P < 0.05). On the other hand, overexpression of Notch2 was detected in medulloblastoma (9/10) in contrast with lower expression of Notch1 (2/10).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Notch1 and Notch2 show differential expression in astrocytoma and medulloblastoma. This may be related to their different functional activities during the process of brain development.</p>