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 29 000 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.
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Sivaparvathi, M., Yamamoto, M., Nicolson, G.L. et al. Expression and immunohistochemical localization of cathepsin L during the progression of human gliomas. Clin Exp Metast 14, 27–34 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00157683
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00157683