Evaluation of intraoperative brain shift using an ultrasound-linked navigation system for brain tumor surgery.

Image-guided neurosurgery using navigation systems is an essential tool to increase accuracy in brain tumor surgery. However, brain shift during surgery has remained problematic. The present study evaluated the utility of a new ultrasound (US)-linked navigation system for brain tumor surgery in 64 patients with intracranial tumors.

Silencing hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha inhibits cell migration and invasion under hypoxic environment in malignant gliomas.

Malignant gliomas are characterized by active invasiveness, necrosis, and vascular proliferation. These pathological features have been speculated to be caused by tissue hypoxia. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), which is controlled by rapid stabilization of the HIF-1alpha subunit, is a pivotal transcriptional factor in the cellular response to hypoxia.

PTEN gene transfer suppresses the invasive potential of human malignant gliomas by regulating cell invasion-related molecules.

Loss of function of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN is more frequently encountered in high-grade malignant gliomas than in low-grade gliomas. High-grade gliomas are characterized by their extremely invasive behavior, suggesting that PTEN is one of the important regulators of cell motility and that alterations of its coding gene contribute to a much more invasive tumor cell phenotype. In order to clarify a role of PTEN in glioma invasion, we introduced the wild-type PTEN gene into human malignant glioma cell lines and investigated their motile and invasive activity in a brain slice model that presents circumstances analogous to normal brain conditions in vivo.

Downregulation of laminin alpha4 chain expression inhibits glioma invasion in vitro and in vivo.

The laminin family is a structural constituent of the extracellular matrix that plays an essential role in promoting the motility of infiltrative tumor cells. We investigated the role of laminin alpha4 chain, a subset of laminin-8, -9 and -14, in the motile and invasive activities of human glioma cells. All malignant glioma cell lines examined expressed more mRNA for the laminin alpha4 and beta1 chains than for the beta2 chain, indicating that these cells predominantly express the laminin-8 isoform.

Midkine promoter-based conditionally replicative adenovirus for malignant glioma therapy.

Little is known concerning promoters or gene therapy specific for malignant glioma. To explore the potential use of midkine promoter in gene therapy for malignant glioma, we constructed a midkine promoter-based conditionally replicating adenovirus (Ad-MK). Midkine was overexpressed in malignant glioma tissues but cyclooxygenase-2 was not.

Introduction of p16INK4a inhibits telomerase activity through transcriptional suppression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase expression in human gliomas.

The p16 and p53 tumor suppressor proteins, which are frequently altered in malignant gliomas, have been noted as regulators of telomerase activity. However, the link between telomerase regulation and these suppressor proteins has not been adequately clarified. In the present study, we demonstrated that p16, as well as p53, suppress telomerase activity through transcriptional regulation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in malignant glioma.

Introduction of wild-type p53 enhances thrombospondin-1 expression in human glioma cells.

Malignant gliomas are distinguished from low-grade gliomas by their intense angiogenesis. In gliomas, p53 is the most frequently altered gene and is involved in the early phase of glioma development. In contrast, homozygous p16 gene deletion is more common in high-grade gliomas.