Intermediate filaments and anaplastic change of ENU-induced gliomass: immunohistochemical study with vimentin and astroprotein (GFAP)

GFAP-positive neoplastic astrocytes in spontaneous oligodendrogliomas and mixed gliomas of rats

It is generally said that neoplastic cells are immunohistochemically negative for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in rat spontaneous astrocytomas, and there are no reports describing the existence of GFAP-positive neoplastic astrocytes in rat spontaneous oligodendrogliomas and mixed gliomas which contain neoplastic astrocytes. In the present study, to clarify whether GFAP-positive neoplastic astrocytes exist in rat spontaneous oligodendrogliomas and mixed gliomas or not, immunohistochemical examination was performed on spontaneous oligodendrogliomas (26 cases) and mixed gliomas (5 cases) collected from the carcinogenicity studies and short-term toxicity studies. The neoplastic cells that constitute oligodendrogliomas and mixed gliomas were morphologically classified into five types: round A, round B, round C, spindle, and bizarre. The cells of round A, B, and C types were thought to be neoplastic oligodendrocytes because of their positive immunostainability for Olig2.  The origin of bizarre cells was obscure because they were negative for Olig2, GFAP, and nestin. The spindle cells were considered to be neoplastic astrocytes, because some of them were positive for GFAP or nestin, and GFAP-positive spindle cells could be morphologically distinguished from reactive astrocytes.  In conclusion, the present study clarified for the first time that GFAP-positive neoplastic astrocytes exist in rat spontaneous gliomas.

Stochastic determination of the chromosomal region responsible for expression of human glial fibrillary acidic protein in astrocytic tumors

Previous investigators have localized the human glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) gene in the segment 17q21 in chromosome 17. In the present study, we statistically assessed the association between the allelic status in thirty-three microsatellite loci and the immunohistochemical expression of GFAP in twenty human astrocytic tumors. The results demonstrated that the loss of heterozygosity in only one locus (D17S795 located in 17q21.2) was significantly associated with the impaired expression of GFAP (P = 0.0280, Pc = 0.0384 by Fisher's exact test). The adjacent loci located in 17q21.1 and 17q21.3 were not relevant to GFAP expression. Those data suggest that the critical region responsible for GFAP expression (coding sequence and regulatory elements) is located close to the locus D17S795 in the segment 17q21.2.

Evidence for an origin of ethyl-nitrosourea-induced rat central nervous system tumors from pluripotent germinal neuroepithelium

Brain tumors induced by transplacental application of ethyl-nitrosourea (ENU) in F344 rats were immunohistochemically demonstrated to consist of undifferentiated cells, astriocyte-like cells, oligodendroglia-like cells, and two distinct types of vimentin-expressing cell groupings termed as perivascular small cell nests (PSCNs) and large cell nests (LCNs). Co-distribution of vimentin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was sparsely observed in the astrocyte-like cells, which suggested an immature glial phenotype. PCSNs contained cells expressing GFAP, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), beta-tubulin isotype III, and low-affinity nerve growth factor receptors (LNGFRs). LCNs contained cells showing a neuronal phenotype with expression of low- and middle-molecular mass neurofilament proteins (NF-L and -M) as well as NSE, beta-tubulin isotype III and LNGFR. Double-labelling immunohistochemistry revealed the NF-L-expression in LNGFR-positive LCN-forming cells. Oligodendroglia-like cells and their intercellular neuropil-like structures expressed beta-tubulin isotype III, synaptophysin and NSE, in addition to the expressions of vimentin and GFAP. Electron microscopically, synapse-like structures were formed between these oligodendroglia-like cells and their dendritic processes. Topographically, bidirectional cell transitions from PSCNs to astrocytes and LCNs were indicated. The present study strongly suggests that so-called ENU-induced "gliomas" originate from pluripotent germinal neuroepithelium. Furthermore, LNGFR expression may be responsible for acquisition of neuronal phenotype in these tumors.

GFAP expression in the subcutaneous tumors of immature glial cell line (HITS glioma) derived from ENU-induced rat glioma

In order to evaluate the proliferation and differentiation potentials of ethylnitrosourea (ENU)-induced rat glioma cells, the authors attempted to obtain a cell line that maintains glial features in long-term culture. One of five cell lines cultivated from ENU-induced rat gliomas merited particular interest because of the differentiation of its neoplastic glia. This cell line, designated as HITS glioma, had a polygonal cell body and formed a monolayer with pile-up foci in vitro, in contrast to the other cell lines, which displayed a mesenchymal change through passages. GFAP-positive cells, found in the primary culture, disappeared in the late passages of HITS glioma, as they did in the other cell lines. Galactocerebroside (GC), GD3 ganglioside, and Leu7 were not expressed in the cell lines during culture. Subcutaneous inoculation of HITS glioma into neonatal rats induced tumors with histopathological components mimicking the histopathological appearance of ENU-induced gliomas. The components also had a fraction of GFAP-positive cells. Such findings indicate that HITS glioma cells may be composed of immature glial cells which are able to differentiate into astrocytic cells under certain conditions. Several growth factors which play a role in gliogenesis were used to evaluate the mechanism(s) of proliferation and/or differentiation of HITS glioma. These growth factors did not induce the expression of GFAP and other antigenic expression in HITS glioma, even though some promoted the proliferation of HITS glioma. Although the mechanism involving the astrocytic differentiation of HITS glioma is unknown, HITS glioma may serve as an effective tool in research to evaluate the mechanisms of proliferation and differentiation of neoplastic glia.

An experimental model for anaplastic astrocytomas and glioblastoma using adult F344 rats and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea

An experimental model for induction of gliomas corresponding to human anaplastic astrocytomas and glioblastomas is reported. Eleven week old F344 and ACI rats were given 100 or 200 p.p.m. N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) solution as their drinking water for 42 weeks. Gliomas were induced at very high incidences (82.5-92.5%) in each group. Induced gliomas showed apparent evidence of morphologic malignancy by an analysis based on diagnostic criteria of human astrocytomas. All of the gliomas from the killed animals were classified histologically into subtypes according to the classification scheme used in the diagnosis of human gliomas. The majority of macrotumors more than 1 mm in diameter in both strains were diagnosed as anaplastic astrocytomas and glioblastomas. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells in these tumors were almost negative for glial fibrillary acidic protein, while ultrastructurally neoplastic astrocytes contained glial filaments. A strain difference was observed in the ratio of histological subtypes of macrotumors. In F344 rats, astrocytic tumors diagnosed as anaplastic astrocytomas and glioblastomas of an astrocytic type formed the majority, whereas glioblastomas of mixed oligo-astrocytic type predominated in ACI rats. The results indicate that MNU-administration to adult F344 rats may provide a suitable experimental model for gliomas which occur in adult humans.

Applications of immunohistochemistry in rodent tumor pathology

Immunohistochemistry can serve as a valuable adjunct to rodent tumor pathology. Specific antigens may be localized to cells and tissues in normal organs, preneoplastic lesions, and benign and malignant tumors. The immunoreactivity of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to these antigens provide a more accurate basis for tumor diagnosis and aid in understanding pathogenesis. Ultimately, the application of more precise understanding of tumor histogenesis and diagnosis will lead to more accurate interpretations of tumor incidence data for safety assessment in toxicology.