Abstract
Recent studies suggest that cysteine proteinase cathepsin L is involved in the process of tumor invasion and metastasis. We examined cathepsin L activity in brain tumor tissue samples by an enzymatic assay, and cathepsin L protein content by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assays and Western blotting to determine whether increased levels of cathepsin L correlate with the progression of human gliomas. Native and acid-activatable cathepsin L activities were highest in glioblastomas followed by anaplastic astrocytomas and were lowest in low-grade gliomas and normal brain tissues. Significantly higher amounts of an M(r) 29000 cathepsin L were present in glioblastomas and anaplastic astrocytomas than in normal brain tissues and low-grade glioma tissue extracts. Using specific antibodies to cathepsin L, we also studied its cellular distribution by immunohistochemical procedures. Higher diffuse cathepsin L immunoreactivity was found in glioblastomas than in low-grade gliomas and normal brain tissue samples. Finally, the addition of cathepsin L antibody inhibits the invasion of glioblastoma cell lines through Matrigel invasion assay. These results suggest the expression of cathepsin L is dramatically upregulated in malignant gliomas and correlates with the malignant progression of human gliomas in vivo.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 27-34 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Clinical and Experimental Metastasis |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1996 |
Keywords
- Cathepsins
- Cysteine protease inhibitors
- Cysteine proteases
- Glioblastoma multiforme
- Invasiveness
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research