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Elevated Levels of Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor Type-1 in Malignant Human Brain Tumors¹

Division of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, 60611-2906 [B. J. L., S. S. B.], and Hematology/Oncology Division, Veterans Administration Lakeside Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60611 [H. C. K., E. N. V]

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Director of Neurosurgical Oncology, Division of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, 233 East Erie St., Suite 500, Chicago, IL 60611-2906.

The plasminogen-plasmin system has been found to modulate neoplastic spread and angiogenesis in tumors outside the central nervous system (CNS), but there have been no quantitative studies on the invasive and vascular tumors of the CNS. Quantitative zymography and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to determine the amounts of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), tissue-type plasminogen activator, and plasminogen activator inhibitors type 1 and type 2 (PAI-1 and PAI-2) in benign and malignant primary brain tumors (n = 28) as well as nonneoplastic brain (n = 5). u-PA and PAI-1 antigen were undetectable in normal brain but significantly elevated in glioblastoma multiforme (u-PA, 2.86 ± 3.01 ng/mg; PAI-1, 8.19 ± 5.57 ng/mg; P < 0.001). There was no difference, however, in tissue-type plasminogen activator antigen levels among control, benign, or malignant tissues except for a 4- to 7-fold increase in acoustic neuroma. PAI-2 was detected at low levels in 2 of the 33 specimens. These findings indicate that malignancy in primary CNS neoplasms is associated with elevated levels of u-PA and PAI-1, supporting the role of the plasminogen-plasmin system in the pathogenesis of CNS malignancy and as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target.

¹ This work was supported, in part, by grants from Northwestern Memorial Foundation, Illinois Neurofibromatosis Inc., National Institutes of Health (CA57781, CA606177) (to S. B.) and the Veterans Administration Central Office (to H. K.).

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Received 6/22/93. Accepted 12/16/93.

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