Cleaved caspase-3, caspase-7 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase are complementarily but differentially expressed in human medulloblastomas.

Expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-7 and specific product of caspase-dependent Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase (PARP) cleavage have been examined by immunohistochemistry in seven human medulloblastomas. Cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP expression parallels apoptosis as revealed with classical morphological criteria and with the method of in situ end-labelling of nuclear DNA fragmentation. Cleaved PARP co-localizes cleaved caspase-3 in the majority of tumors and areas thus indicating that caspase-3 is a major effector caspase leading to apoptosis in these tumors. Yet cleaved caspase-7 was also expressed in a small number of cells in four of seven tumors, but was the predominant caspase associated with cleaved PARP in one medulloblastoma. These findings indicate that effector caspase-3 and -7 may act in association, although caspase-7 may be exceptionally dominant in selected tumors.