Expression of the multidrug-resistance P-glycoprotein (Pgp, MDR-1) by endothelial cells of the neovasculature in central nervous system tumors.

To elucidate the expression of the MDR1 gene products P-glycoprotein (Pgp) in endothelial cells of newly formed blood microvessels in brain tumors, 30 brain tumors were examined by immunohistochemistry using an anti-Pgp monoclonal antibody, JSB-1. Positive reactions for JSB-1 were detected in endothelial cells in newly formed microvessels in all 16 cases of glioma but not in the 4 meningiomas. Although endothelial cells in newly formed microvessels of all 10 metastatic carcinomas showed positive reactions, negative reactions were seen in those of the primary carcinomas. Compared with reactions of the endothelial cells of normal cerebral capillaries, weak reactions were found in the endothelial cells forming glomeruloid proliferation in newly formed microvessels in the eight glioblastomas and at the border of the surrounding cerebral tissue of the metastatic carcinomas. Since the endothelial cells showing glomeruloid proliferation also had a high proliferative cell nuclear antigen labeling index, the present findings demonstrate a negative relationship between positive reactions for Pgp and the proliferative activities of endothelial cells in cerebral capillaries.