The Research Of The Niches For Glioma Stem Cells

Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate the expressions of CD133, Nestin, CD31 and Proliferating cell nuclear marker (PCNA) and explore the structure,distributing and proliferating ability of the niche in which the brain tumor stem cells accumulated.Methods (1) The expressions of Nestin,CD133 and PCNA were detected using immunohistochemistry. (2) Double immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the co-expression of CD133/CD31, CD133/PCNA, CD133/Nestin, Nestin/CD31 and Nestin/PCNA. Then,the percentage of the CD133+niches, CD133+blood vessels, Nestin+niches,PCNA+cells and Nestin+blood vessels were calculated. All the results were carried on statistics analysis.Results (1) Both the CD133+ niches and Nestin+ niches are located perivascularly in all glioma tissues. In the low group, the positive expression of the CD133+niches is low and with few Proliferating cell in them, the boundary with the neighboring niches is clear,and there are few blood vessels distributed around the surroundings. Along with the tumor grading increased, both the CD133+ niches ( P=0.000) and Nestin+ niches (P=0.000) increased significantly. (2) When the tumor grading increased,both the CD133+/PCNA+cells and Nestin+/PCNA+cells increased significantly (P=0.000). The double immunofluorescence staining of CD133/PCNA or Nestin/PCNA was more valuable to represent the proliferating characteristics of BTSCs compared with immunohistochemistry.There were positive correlation between the CD133+/Ki-67+cells or Nestin+/Ki-67+cells with CD133+/Nestin+BTSCs.Furthermore,besides CD133+/Nestin+BTSCs, there are also subgroup cells ,such as CD133+/Nestin-cells or CD133-/PCNA+cells in the niches,. (3) In low-group, there were fewer CD133+blood vessels or Nestin+ blood vessels in the regions which CD133+niches or Nestin+niches distributied compared with the high-group. The CD133+/CD31+,Nestin+/CD31+cells could be found co-expressed in the endothelial cells by using double immunofluorescence staining. Positive correlation was observed between the CD133+ niches and CD133+blood vessels (r =0.945,P<0.01)which similar to the correlation between the Nestin+ blood vessels and Nestin+ niches(r =0.727,P<0.01).Conclusion (1) Along with the tumor grading increased,the BTSCs niches,the shape and structural elements of which are changing unceasingly,increased significantly. (2) Along with the tumor grading increased,both the BTSCs and subgroup cells in the niches were at the state of proliferating and differentiating.(3) The BTSCs niches could be found distributed around the micro-vascular system with strong correlation. Moreover, we also found the blood vessels in the niches as a structural ingredient.Therefore, the BTSCs niches and the micro-vascular system are related to each other closely, which were showed not only in the regional distribution but also in the biological function.