ALK signaling cascade confers multiple advantages to glioblastoma cells through neovascularization and cell proliferation.

ABSTRACT: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), which is a receptor tyrosine kinase, is essentially and transiently expressed in the developing nervous system. Here we examined the functional role of the ALK gene in glioblastomas (GBMs). In clinical samples of GBMs, high ALK expression without gene rearrangements or mutations was frequently observed in perivascular lesions, in contrast to the relatively low expression in the perinecrotic areas, which was positively correlated with N-myc and phosphorylated (p) Stat3 scores and Ki-67 labeling indices. ALK immunoreactivity was also found to be associated with neovascular features including vascular co-option and vascular mimicry. In astrocytoma cell lines, cells stably overexpressing full-length ALK showed an increase in expression of pStat3 and pAkt prote

SUBMITTER: Chiba R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5570309 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature