Fas ligand expression in glioblastoma cell lines and primary astrocytic brain tumors

Fas/APO-1 (CD95) is a cell surface receptor that mediates apoptosis when it reacts with Pas ligand (Fast) or Pas antibody, We previously reported that Fas expression is predominantly induced in perinecrotic glioma cells, suggesting that Fas induction is associated with apoptosis and necrosis formation, a histological hallmark of glioblastomas. In this study, we assessed the expression of Fast in 10 glioblastoma cell lines and in 14 astrocytic brain tumors (three low-grade astrocytomas and 11 glioblastomas), Reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR revealed that all glioblastoma cell lines and primary astrocytic brain tumors express Fast, Immunohistochemically, FasL was predominantly expressed on the plasma membrane of glioma cells, These results suggest that Fast expression is common in human astrocytic brain tumors and may cause apoptosis of glioma cells if Fas expression is induced.