Expression and significance of components related to Wnt/β-catenin signal transduction pathway in brainstem gliomas

Objective To explore the role of Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway in the tumorigenesis and progression of brainstem gliomas by detecting the expression of Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway related components. Methods The samples were collected from patients with glioma and patients with primary epilepsy in Beijing Tiantan Hospital from May 2009 to May 2011.This study used Western blot and immunohistochemistrical methods to detect the expression of Wnt-1, Wnt-2, β-catenin and C-myc in six cases of normal brain tissues and 24 cases of brainstem gliomas, and analyzed the relationships between their expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Results The expression of Wnt-1 was higher in brainstem gliomas than that in normal brain tissues (P 0.05). The expressions of Wnt-2, β-catenin and C-myc in high-grade brainstem gliomas were significantly higher than those in low-grade brainstem gliomas and normal brain tissues, and were positively correlated with the expression of Ki-67(P 0.05). Conclusions Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway might be abnormally activated and play an important role in the occurrence and development of brainstem gliomas.Wnt-2, β-catenin and C-myc could be used as markers for the prognosis of brainstem gliomas, which also were potential targets for brainstem glioma treatment. Key words: Glioma; Brain stem; Wnt signaling pathway; β-catenin