Reduced expression of the hyaluronan and proteoglycan link proteins in malignant gliomas.

ABSTRACT: Malignant gliomas have a distinctive ability to infiltrate the brain parenchyma and disrupt the neural extracellular matrix that inhibits motility of axons and normal neural cells. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are among the major inhibitory components in the neural matrix, but surprisingly, some are up-regulated in gliomas and act as pro-invasive signals. In the normal brain, CSPGs are thought to associate with hyaluronic acid and glycoproteins such as the tenascins and link proteins to form the matrix scaffold. Here, we examined for the first time the expression of link proteins in human brain and malignant gliomas. Our results indicate that HAPLN4 and HAPLN2 are the predominant members of this family in the adult human brain but are strongly reduced in the tumor parenchyma.

SUBMITTER: Sim H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2785343 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature