A tissue microarray study of toll-like receptor 4, decoy receptor 3, and external signal regulated kinase 1/2 expressions in astrocytoma

• Main Authors: Chih-Kung Lin (Author), Chun-Chieh Ting (Author), Wen-Chiuan Tsai (Author), Yuan-Wu Chen (Author), Dueng-Yuan Hueng (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0377-4929; 10.4103/0377-4929.188122
• Keywords: Astrocytoma; decoy receptor 3; external signal regulated kinase 1/2; glioblastoma; immunostaining score; toll-like receptor 4; Pathology; RB1-214; Microbiology; QR1-502
• Source: Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology, Vol 59, Iss 3, Pp 294-300 (2016)

Introduction: Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) functions as a death decoy inhibiting apoptosis mediated by the tumor necrosis factor receptor family. It is highly expressed in many tumors and its expression can be regulated by the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway and ERK is a vital member of this pathway. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is expressed on immune cells. Increased TLR4 expression has been associated with various types of cancers. Material and Methods: The study was conducted to investigate the expression of DcR3, ERK1/2, and TLR4 in astrocytomas and evaluate if they are validating markers for discriminating glioblastoma from anaplastic astrocytoma in limited surgical specimen. Expression of DcR3, ERK1/2, and TLR4 was determined by immunohistochemical staining of tissue microarray from 48 paraffin-embedded tissues. A binary logistic regression method was used to generate functions that discriminate between anaplastic astrocytomas and glioblastomas. Results: The expression of TLR4 and DcR3 was significantly higher in glioblastomas than in anaplastic astrocytomas. DcR3 could discriminate anaplastic astrocytomas from glioblastomas with high sensitivity (93.8%), specificity (90%), and accuracy (92.3%). Conclusion: Our results suggest that DcR3 may be a useful marker for discriminating anaplastic astrocytomas from glioblastomas.