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Expression of E‐cadherin and catenins in meningioma: Ubiquitous expression and its irrelevance to malignancy
Author(s) -
Shimada Shio,
Ishizawa Keisuke,
Hirose Takanori
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
pathology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1827
pISSN - 1320-5463
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1827.2005.01786.x
Subject(s) - catenin , meningioma , pathology , cadherin , immunohistochemistry , cell adhesion molecule , malignancy , hemangiopericytoma , biology , cell adhesion , cell , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , wnt signaling pathway , signal transduction , genetics
The expression of cell adhesion molecules in 107 meningiomas was analyzed with immunohistochemical methods using antibodies to epithelial (E)‐cadherin and catenins (α, β and γ). According to the provided World Health Organization (WHO) grading, 84, 18 and five cases were classified as grade I, II and III, respectively. In addition, hemangioblastoma (15 cases) and hemangiopericytoma (four cases) were also evaluated. In most meningiomas, E‐cadherin, α‐ and β‐catenins were expressed along the cell membrane or inside the cytoplasm. The tumor cells constituting whorls and glandular structures of secretory type showed a strong immunoreactivity. γ‐Catenin expression tended to be weak and infrequent in fibrous meningiomas, while other types exhibited diffuse stainings. Even in meningiomas of more than grade II, the expressions of cell adhesion molecules were detected in all cases. Hemangiopericytoma was positive for α‐ and β‐catenins, and hemangioblastomas were positive for β‐catenin alone, which was distinct from the expression pattern in meningiomas. Quantitatively, there were no correlations between the histological variants, Ki‐67 indexes, or grades of meningiomas and the immunoreactive scores except for γ‐catenin scores of fibrous meningiomas. The present study demonstrates that cell adhesion molecules are ubiquitously expressed in all variants of meningioma and may be involved in the tumor morphogenesis. This result suggests that the expression of cell adhesion molecules is not a reliable indicator of malignancy in meningiomas. The present study also suggests that these markers may be useful for the differential diagnosis of meningioma.