Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Immunohistochemical characterization of oligodendrogliomas: an analysis of multiple markers

  • Original Works
  • Published:
Acta Neuropathologica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Twenty-eight oligodendrogliomas and seven oligoastrocytomas were immunotested by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method with antiglial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) serum, anti-Leu 7 monoclonal antibody (Mab), anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) Mab, anti-myelin basic protein (MBP) serum, anti-carbonic anhydrase C (CA C) serum and anti-neuron-specific enolase (NSE) serum. The immunoreactivity of their vascular pattern was studied withUlex europaeus type I lectin (UEA I). According to their morphology and distribution GFAP-positive cells were respectively interpreted as reactive astrocytes, neoplastic astrocytes and neoplastic oligodendrocytes. Reactive astrocytes were found in the tumor, around the tumor and surrounding the supporting blood vessels. Neoplastic astrocytes were mainly found in the oligoastrocytomas and usually closely intermingled with neoplastic oligodendrocytes. GFAP-positive neoplastic oligodendrocytes were found in the typical oligodendrogliomatous areas. They had central nuclei and GFA positivity was mainly found in the perinuclear cytoplasm. They correspond to the “gliofibrillary oligodendrocytes” described by Herpers and Budka [11]. Of the oligodendrogliomas 91% displayed Leu 7 positivity, but anti-Leu 7 cannot be considered as a specific marker for oligodendrogliomas since other neuroepithelial tumors have been reported to react with this antibody [20]. MAG-, CA C- and NSE-positivities were found in a number of tumor cells in a few oligodendrogliomas. All the tumor cells were MBP-negative, but myelin sheaths and fragments of myelin in the infiltrated white matter were clearly demonstrated by this antiserum. UEA I strikingly demonstrated the vascular pattern of the tumors, and its usefulness as a discriminating marker for the supportive endothelial cells was confirmed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bailey P, Bucy PC (1929) Oligodendrogliomas of the brain. J Pathol Bacteriol 32:735–751

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bignami A, Eng LF, Dahl D, Uyeda CT (1972) Localization of the glial fibrillary acidic protein in astrocytes by immunofluorescence. Brain Res 43:429–435

    Google Scholar 

  3. Caillaud J-M, Benjelloun S, Bosq J, Braham K, Lipinski M (1984) HNK-1-defined antigen detected in paraffin-embedded neuroectoderm tumors and those derived from cells of the amine precursor uptake decarboxylation system. Cancer Res 44:4432–4439

    Google Scholar 

  4. Choi BH, Kim RC (1984) Expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein in immature oligodendroglia. Science 223:407–409

    Google Scholar 

  5. Costero I (1962) Pathology of glial neoplasms. In: Fields WS, Sharkey PC (eds) The biology and treatment of intracranial tumors. Charles C Thomas, Springfield, pp 178–211

    Google Scholar 

  6. DeArmond SJ, Eng LF, Rubinstein LJ (1980) The application of glial fibrillary acidic protein immunohistochemistry in neurooncology. Pathol Res Pract 168:374–394

    Google Scholar 

  7. Eng LF, Rubinstein LJ (1978) Contribution of immunohistochemistry to diagnostic problems of human cerebral tumors. J Histochem Cytochem 26:513–522

    Google Scholar 

  8. Eng LF, Vanderhaeghen JJ, Bignami A, Gerstl B (1971) An acidic protein isolated from fibrous astrocytes. Brain Res 28:351–354

    Google Scholar 

  9. Figols J, Iglesias-Rozas JR, Kazner E (1985) Myelin basic protein (MBP) in human gliomas: a study of twenty-five cases. Clin Neuropathol 4:116–120

    Google Scholar 

  10. Hartman BK, Agrawal HC, Agrawal D, Kalmbach S (1982) Development and maturation of central nervous system myelin: comparison of immunohistochemical localization of proteolipid protein and basic protein in myelin and oligodendrocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:4217–4220

    Google Scholar 

  11. Herpers MJHM, Budka H (1984) Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in oligodendroglial tumors: gliofibrillary oligodendroglioma and transitional oligoastrocytoma as subtypes of oligodendroglioma. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 64:265–272

    Google Scholar 

  12. Itoyama Y, Sternberger NH, Kies MW, Cohen SR, Richardson EP Jr, Webster H de F (1980) Immunocytochemical method to identify myelin basic protein in oligodendroglia and myelin sheaths of the human nervous system. Ann Neurol 7:157–166

    Google Scholar 

  13. Köhler G, Milstein C (1975) Continuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity. Nature 256:495–497

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kumpulainen T, Korhonen LK (1982) Immunohistochemical localization of carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme C in the central and peripheral nervous system of the mouse. J Histochem Cytochem 30:283–292

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kumpulainen T, Dahl D, Korhonen LK, Nyström SHM (1983) Immunolabeling of carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme C and glial fibrillary acidic protein in paraffin-embedded tissue sections of human brain and retina. J Histochem Cytochem 31:879–886

    Google Scholar 

  16. Lipinski M, Braham K, Caillaud J-M, Carlu C, Tursz T (1983) HNK-1 antibody detects an antigen expressed on neuroectodermal cells. J Exp Med 158:1775–1780

    Google Scholar 

  17. Lumsden CE (1971) The study by tissue culture of tumours of the nervous system. In: Russell DS, Rubinstein LJ: Pathology of tumours of the nervous system, 3rd edn. Edward Arnold, London, pp 334–420

    Google Scholar 

  18. Motoi M, Yoshino T, Hayashi K, Nose S, Horie Y, Ogawa K (1985) Immunohistochemical studies on human brain tumors using anti-Leu 7 monoclonal antibody in paraffin-embedded specimens. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 66:75–77

    Google Scholar 

  19. Perentes E, Rubinstein LJ (1985) Immunohistochemical recognition of human nerve sheath tumors by anti-Leu 7 (HNK-I) monoclonal antibody. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 68:319–324

    Google Scholar 

  20. Perentes E, Rubinstein LJ (1986) Immunohistochemical recognition of human neuroepithelial tumors by anti-Leu 7 (HNK-1) monoclonal antibody. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 69:227–233

    Google Scholar 

  21. Pickel VM, Reis DJ, Marangos PJ, Zomzely-Neurath C (1976) Immunocytochemical localization of nervous system specific protein (NSP-R) in rat brain. Brain Res 105:184–187

    Google Scholar 

  22. Raff MC, Mirsky R, Fields KL, Lisak RP, Dorfman SH, Silberberg DH, Gregson NA, Leibowitz S, Kennedy MC (1978) Galactocerebroside is a specific cell-surface antigenic marker for oligodendrocytes in culture. Nature 274:813–816

    Google Scholar 

  23. Ravens JR, Adamkiewicz LL, Groff R (1955) Cytology and cellular pathology of the oligodendrogliomas of the brain. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 14:142–184

    Google Scholar 

  24. Russell DS, Rubinstein LJ (1977) Pathology of tumours of the nervous system, 4th edn. Edward Arnold, London, pp 195–203

    Google Scholar 

  25. Schmechel D, Marangos PJ, Zis AP, Brightman M, Goodwin FK (1978) Brain enolases as specific markers of neuronal and glial cells. Science 199:313–315

    Google Scholar 

  26. Schuller-Petrovic S, Gebhart W, Lassmann H, Rumpold H, Kraft D (1983) A shared antigenic determinant between natural killer cells and nervous tissue. Nature 306:179–181

    Google Scholar 

  27. Sheedlo HJ, Yaghmai F, Wolfe L III, Sprinkle TJ (1985) An immunochemical investigation of 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase (CNP) in bovine cerebrum and human oligodendroglioma. J Neurosci Res 13:431–441

    Google Scholar 

  28. Steck AJ, Murray N, Vandevelde M, Zurbriggen A (1983) Human monoclonal antibodies to myelin-associated glycoprotein. Comparison of specificity and use for immunocytochemical localisation of the antigen. J Neuroimmunol 5:145–156

    Google Scholar 

  29. Sternberger LA, Hardy PH Jr, Cuculis JJ, Meyer HG (1970) The unlabelled antibody enzyme method of immunohistochemistry. Preparation and properties of soluble antigen-antibody complex (horseradish peroxidase-antihorseradish peroxidase) and its use in identification of spirochetes. J Histochem Cytochem 18:315–333

    Google Scholar 

  30. Sternberger NH, Itoyama Y, Kies MW, Webster H de F (1978) Myelin basic protein demonstrated immunocytochemically in oligodendroglia prior to myelin sheath formation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 75:2521–2524

    Google Scholar 

  31. Sternberger NH, Quarles RH, Itoyama Y, Webster H De F (1979) Myelin-associated glycoprotein demonstrated immunocytochemically in myelin and myelin-forming cells of developing rat. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 76:1510–1514

    Google Scholar 

  32. Stoll G, Schwendemann G, Heininger K, Steck AJ, Toyka KV (1985) Human monoclonal anti-MAG antibody and anti-Leu 7 recognise shared antigenic determinants in peripheral nerve and spinal cord. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiat 48:635–638

    Google Scholar 

  33. Tascos NA, Parr J, Gonatas NK (1982) Immunocytochemical study of the glial fibrillary acidic protein in human neoplasms of the central nervous system. Hum Pathol 13:454–458

    Google Scholar 

  34. Trapp BD, Itoyama Y, MacIntosh TD, Quarles RH (1983) P2 protein is oligodendrocytes and myelin of the rabbit central nervous system. J Neurochem 40:47–54

    Google Scholar 

  35. Van der Meulen JDM, Houthoff HJ, Ebels EJ (1978) Glial fibrillary acidic protein in human gliomas. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 4:177–190

    Google Scholar 

  36. Vandevelde M, Fankhauser R, Luginbühl H (1985) Immunocytochemical studies in canine neuroectodermal brain tumors. Acta neuropathol (Berl) 66:111–116

    Google Scholar 

  37. Velasco ME, Dahl D, Roessmann U, Gambetti P (1980) Immunohistochemical localization of glial fibrillary acidic protein in human glial neoplasms. Cancer 45:484–494

    Google Scholar 

  38. Vinores SA, Bonnin JM, Rubinstein LJ, Marangos PJ (1984) Immunohistochemical demonstration of neuron-specific enolase in neoplasms of the central nervous system and other tissues. Arch Pathol Lab Med 108:536–540

    Google Scholar 

  39. Vinores SA, Rubinstein LJ (1985) Simultaneous expression of glial fibrillary acidic (GFA) protein and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) by the same reactive or neoplastic astrocytes. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 11:349–359

    Google Scholar 

  40. Weber T, Seitz RJ, Liebert UG, Gallasch E, Wechsler W (1985) Affinity cytochemistry of vascular endothelia in brain tumors by biotinylatedUlex europaeus type I lectin (UEAI). Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 67:128–135

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neuropathology, Department of Pathology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, 22908, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Y. Nakagawa, E. Perentes & L. J. Rubinstein

Authors
  1. Y. Nakagawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. Perentes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L. J. Rubinstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Dedicated to Prof. F. Seitelberger on the occasion of his seventieth birthday

Supported by a grant from the Fondation Suisse de Bourses de Médecine et Biologie (EP) and by Research Grant CA 31271 from the National Cancer Institute, US Department of Health and Human Services (LJR)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nakagawa, Y., Perentes, E. & Rubinstein, L.J. Immunohistochemical characterization of oligodendrogliomas: an analysis of multiple markers. Acta Neuropathol 72, 15–22 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00687942

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00687942

Key words

Search

Navigation