Attractin Mediates Invasiveness of Certain Brain Tumors

Cancer researchers have found that the protein attractin, which is produced by cells present in certain types of brain tumors, is an important mediator of tumor invasiveness and a reliable biomarker for the detection of malignant astrocytoma.

Investigators at Emory University (Atlanta, GA, USA) used advanced proteomic techniques to analyze cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or cyst fluid samples from 60 patients with various diseases of the central nervous system. They found that attractin was consistently elevated in the samples from patients with malignant astrocytoma, a common and highly aggressive type of brain cancer.

To independently validate these results, they examined attractin expression in a new set of 108 normal and tumoral brain tissue specimens and found elevated expression in 97% of malignant astrocytomas, with the highest levels found in grade four tumors. Immunohistochemical data published in the November 2006 issue of Clinical Cancer Research showed that attractin was produced and secreted by the tumor cells. Furthermore, cerebrospinal fluid from brain tumor patients induced glioma cell migration, and attractin was largely responsible for this promigratory activity.

"Using proteomic analyses of the CSF of patients with brain tumors, we have identified for the first time that attractin levels are elevated in patients with high-grade astrocytoma,” said senior author Dr. Erwin Van Meir, professor of neurosurgery and hematology/oncology at Emory University. "Because few noninvasive methods are available for monitoring CNS malignancies, there is an urgent need to find reliable indicators. Our studies suggest that measuring attractin levels in patients with grades II-IV astrocytoma should be explored further as a potential biomarker for monitoring the growth of these tumors or as a potential new target for therapy.”



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