The present study investigated the altered expression of p2X purinoceptor (P2X7R) in astrocytoma. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were used to determine the P2X7R expression in glioblastoma (GBM) and surrounding normal brain tissue. DNA methylation levels of P2X7R gene promoter in GBM were analyzed using a Sequenom MassARRAY® System. Immuno...

Pilocytic astrocytoma sometimes transforms to a malignant type, and previous radiation therapy is considered to be a key factor. We report a case of pilocytic astrocytoma with histological malignant features without previous radiation therapy. A 21-year-old man presented a sudden onset of severe headache. Neuroimaging had detected a cystic mass in the posterior fossa at the age of one year with...

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a A/, 50,000 intracytoplasmic filamentous protein that constitutes a portion of, and is spécifiefor the cytoskeleton of the astrocyte. GFAP appears to stabilize the astrocyte's cytoskeleton, and helps maintain normal astrocyte cell shape through complex interactions between it and the nuclear and plasma membranes. A critical observation from histopatho...

We report on a 24-year-old woman who was diagnosed as having Maffucci syndrome with anaplastic astrocytoma. We analyzed the IDH1 and IDH2 mutations of enchondroma, hemangioma and anaplastic astrocytoma tissues and the same somatic mosaic mutation in IDH2 gene was identified in all these tissues. In addition, we identified additional mutation of the TP53 gene in anaplastic astrocytoma tissue but...

retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular neoplasm in children. glial tumor of the retina and optic nerve head are considered to be congenital and are therefore classified as hamartomas. concurrent occurrence of these tumors in one eye is uncommon and by reviewing the studies, a few cases have been reported. we report a 9 years old boy with eye enucleation and concurrent occurrence of retin...

Malignant astrocytomas are highly invasive neoplasms infiltrating diffusely into regions of normal brain. Whereas the molecular and cellular mechanisms governing astrocytoma invasion remain poorly understood, evidence in other cell systems has implicated a role for the Rho-GTPases in cell motility and invasion. Here, we examine how the inhibition or activation of Rho-kinase (ROCK) affects astro...

Astrocytic tumors are the most common brain tumors with various genetic defects. As a tumor suppressor gene, Axin could control cell death and growth. Axin possesses a separate domain that directly interacts with p53 and regulates the activity of p53 pathway. Our aims were to elucidate the effects of Axin on the progression of astrocytoma. We examined the expression of Axin in 96 cases of astro...

Tbx2 is a cancer-related protein that was found to be overexpressed in several human malignancies. The present study aims to investigate the clinical significance and biological role of Tbx2 in human astrocytoma. We examined its protein expression in 102 cases of astrocytoma tissues using immunohistochemical staining. Negative Tbx2 staining was observed in normal astrocytes, and positive nuclea...

microRNAs (miRNAs) play tumor-promoting roles in a variety of tumors. This study investigated the expression of miRNA-211 (miR-221) in human astrocytoma, and its effect on proliferation and apoptosis of human astrocytoma cells in vitro. miR-221 expression was detected in 10 astrocytoma tissues and 4 adjacent tissues by real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). miR-221 expression in situ was signifi...

Pilomyxoid astrocytoma, an entity described as a histological variant of pilocytic astrocytoma, is a rare primary tumor of the central nervous system. It is usually located in the hypothalamic-chiasmatic area, affecting children with a mean age of 10 months. It has a high rate of recurrence and cerebrospinal fluid dissemination, which may be present throughout the neuroaxis. Due to its topograp...