Affiliations: Institut für Humangenetik, Universität des
Saarlandes, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Deutschland | Neurochirurgische Univ.Klinik, 66421 Homburg/Saar,
Deutschland
Note: [] Address for correspondence: E. Meese Institut für
Humangenetik, Bldg. 60, Medical School, University of Saarland 66421
Homburg/Saar, Germany, Tel.: 49 - 6841 - 16 6038 Fax: 49 - 6841 - 16 6187
e-mail hgemee@med-rz.uni-sb.de
Abstract: Glioma constitutes the most frequent brain tumor in man with
glioblastoma as the most prevalent and malignant type. Despite surgery,
radiation and chemotherapy, patients with glioblastoma have only a median
survival time of less than one year. Although numerous chromosomal deviations
have been described in glioblastoma, only few genes have been associated with
these changes. It is especially necessary to identify genes involved in early
glioma development and in progression to glioblastoma. Here, we describe the
identification of a novel glioma expressed antigen both in the benign form of
pilocytic astrocytoma and the malignant glioblastoma. We established two lambda
zap expression libraries from a glioblastoma WHO grade IV and from a pilocytic
astrocytoma WHO grade I and screened the libraries with the corresponding
autologous patient sera. Both screenings revealed several serum positive
clones, but interestingly only one clone termed glioma expressed antigen 1
(GLEA1) was found immunoreactive in the glioblastoma serum and the pilocytic
astrocytoma serum. None of the control sera including sera from patients with
lung carcinoma, meningioma or control persons showed an immune response to GLEA
1. GLEA appears to be a glioma specific immunogenic antigen which lends itself
as a potential diagnostic marker.
