Expression of oligodendrocyte lineage genes in oligodendroglial and astrocytic gliomas

The oligodendrocyte lineage genes OLIG1 and OLIG2 have been reported as potential diagnostic markers for oligodendrogliomas [Lu et al. (2001) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:10851-10856; Marie et al. (2001) Lancet 358:298-300]. We investigated the mRNA expression of OLIG1 and OLIG2, as well as four other genes involved in oligodendrocyte development (E2A, HEB, NKX2.2, and PDGFRA) in a panel of 70 gliomas, including 9 oligodendrogliomas, 11 anaplastic oligodendrogliomas, 5 oligoastrocytomas, 10 anaplastic oligoastrocytomas, 10 diffuse astrocytomas, 10 anaplastic astrocytomas, and 15 glioblastomas. Most tumors demonstrated higher transcript levels of these genes as compared to non-neoplastic adult brain tissue. Four glioblastomas showed markedly increased PDGFRA mRNA expression due to PDGFRA gene amplification. Statistical analyses revealed no significant expression differences between oligodendroglial and astrocytic tumors. In oligodendroglial tumors, expression of the six genes was not significantly correlated to loss of heterozygosity on chromosome arms 1p and 19q. Thus, expression of the investigated oligodendrocyte lineage genes is up-regulated relative to non-neoplastic brain tissue in the majority of oligodendroglial and astrocytic tumors, suggesting that glioma cells are arrested in or recapitulate molecular phenotypes corresponding to early stages of glial development. However, the determination of mRNA expression of these genes by means of reverse transcription-PCR does not appear to be diagnostically useful as a marker for oligodendrogliomas.