Immunoblot analysis of the placental form of glutathione S-transferase in protein extracted from paraffin-embedded human glioma tissue.

Protein extracted from conventional formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections of human gliomas was examined for immunoblot analysis using antibody against the placental form of glutathione S-transferase (GST-pi). Four benign astrocytomas, five anaplastic astrocytomas and four glioblastomas were used in this study. The preliminary study demonstrated that immunoreactivity of GST-pi was well preserved in normal brain tissue and normal term placenta fixed in acetone, formalin or buffered formalin (pH 7.4). GST-pi in gliomas fixed in formalin also had a good immunoreactivity and showed clear bands on nitrocellulose membranes processed by the method of Western blotting using anti-GST-pi antibody. The results of immunoblot analysis for GST-pi indicate that the intensity of immunoreactivity of benign astrocytoma, anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma increases with the advance of malignancy of these neoplasms. Western blot analysis for GST-pi can be performed using protein extracted from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections, and the immunoreactive bands can be analyzed quantitatively by densitometric scanning.