THE NEUROENDOCRINE AND NEURAL PROFILES OF NEUROBLASTOMAS, GANGLIONEUROBLASTOMAS, AND GANGLIONEUROMAS

  • 1 February 1990
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 136  (2) , 375-382
Abstract
To establish the neuroendocrine and neural features of peripheral neuroblastic tumors, a prospectively collected group of 12 neuroblastomas (NB), 2 ganglioneutroblastomas (GNB), and 4 ganglioneuromas (GN) was probed with a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to neuroendocrine and neural antigens. All tumors expressed the pan-neuroendocrine markers synaptophysin and chromogranin A. They also showed extensive expression of neuronal antigens, ie, of each of the neurofilament (NF) triplet proteins and of the microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) MAP2 and tau-protein. However, only in the GNBS and GNS was the pattern of NF phosphoisoforms relatively mature. In the latter tumros glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and myelin basic protein (MBP) could be demonstrated as well, suggesting the presence of nonmyelinating and myelinating Schwann cells, respectively. The glial markers did not coloocalize with the neural makrers. On the basis of these data, it was concluded that all peripheral neuroblastic tumors manifest molecular characteristics of neuroendocrine cells and of neurons. The latter were most developed in GNBs and GNs, in which they were accompanied by Schwann cell differentiation in a separate population of cells. The above-outlined neuronal prolife of peripheral neuroblastic tumors, including NBs, distinguishes this group of tumors from the much-less neuronally differentiated primitive neuroelectodermal tumors of the central nervous system.

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