engleski

Wnt signaling transcription factors TCF-1 and LEF-1 are upregulated in malignant astrocytic brain tumors

Since the discovery of TCF/LEF family of transcription factors, their functions have been under intensive investigation in the area of cancer biology. The work presented in this paper focused on the levels and changes of expression of TCF-1 and LEF-1 in a set of astrocytic brain tumors. Glioblastomas were characterized with strong TCF-1 expression in 51.6%, and with strong LEF-1 expression in 71% of samples. Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences in protein expression levels associated to 3 important values, weak expression of TCF-1, weak expression of LEF-1 and strong expression of LEF-1. Analysis of variances performed on the total sample also indicates significant differences in the values of TCF-1 weak (F=2.804 ; p=0.045), LEF-1 strong (F=5.498 ; p=0.002) and LEF-1 weak (F=4.255 ; p=0.008) with regard to malignancy grade. The F–ratios for two variables (LEF-1 strong and LEF-1 weak) indicate that differences between astrocytomas and glioblastomas are statistically significant (p<0.01). Discriminant function analysis further showed that just one variable –the strong expression of LEF-1, emerged to discriminate between astrocytomas and glioblastomas. This suggests that LEF-1 may serve as potential diagnostic marker. Based on our results we can conclude that astrocytic brain tumors are characterized by elevated levels of expression of both TCF-1 and LEF-1.

astrocytic brain tumors; glioblastoma; transcription factors TCF-1; LEF-1; wnt signaling

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