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A tumor-specific cellular environment at the brain invasion border of adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas

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Abstract

Craniopharyngiomas (CP) are benign epithelial tumors of the sellar region and can be clinicopathologically distinguished into adamantinomatous (adaCP) and papillary (papCP) variants. Both subtypes are classified according to the World Health Organization grade I, but their irregular digitate brain infiltration makes any complete surgical resection difficult to obtain. Herein, we characterized the cellular interface between the tumor and the surrounding brain tissue in 48 CP (41 adaCP and seven papCP) compared to non-neuroepithelial tumors, i.e., 12 cavernous hemangiomas, 10 meningiomas, and 14 metastases using antibodies directed against glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP), vimentin, nestin, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) splice variants, and tenascin-C. We identified a specific cell population characterized by the coexpression of nestin, MAP2, and GFAP within the invasion niche of the adamantinomatous subtype. This was especially prominent along the finger-like protrusions. A similar population of presumably astroglial precursors was not visible in other lesions under study, which characterize them as distinct histopathological feature of adaCP. Furthermore, the outer tumor cell layer of adaCP showed a distinct expression of MAP2, a novel finding helpful in the differential diagnosis of epithelial tumors in the sellar region. Our data support the hypothesis that adaCP, unlike other non-neuroepithelial tumors of the central nervous system, create a tumor-specific cellular environment at the tumor–brain junction. Whether this facilitates the characteristic infiltrative growth pattern or is the consequence of an activated Wnt signaling pathway, detectable in 90% of these tumors, will need further consideration.

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Acknowledgements

We kindly thank T. Jungbauer, K. Kalus, B. Rings, S. Sterner, and especially V. Schmidt for the expert technical support. We thank Dr. R. Coras and Dipl. Biochem. K. Kobow for the helpful discussions. This work was supported by the ELAN Foundation from the University Hospital of Erlangen, School of Medicine.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuropathology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Stefanie Burghaus, Annett Hölsken, Ingmar Blümcke & Rolf Buslei

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

    Michael Buchfelder

  3. International Neuroscience Institute, Hannover, Germany

    Rudolf Fahlbusch

  4. Institut de Biologie Cellulaire/Morphologie, Université Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Beat M. Riederer

  5. Department of Neuropathology, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Volkmar Hans

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  1. Stefanie Burghaus
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Correspondence to Rolf Buslei.

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Burghaus, S., Hölsken, A., Buchfelder, M. et al. A tumor-specific cellular environment at the brain invasion border of adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas. Virchows Arch 456, 287–300 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-009-0873-0

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