The expression and significance of HIF-1α and GLUT-3 in glioma

HIF-1 alpha plays an indispensable role in tumor formation and histogenesis. Target genes involved in glucose transport are acutely transactivated by HIF-1 alpha. GLUT-3 protein is the rate-limiting factor related to glucose transport, which is classified as brain-type glucose transporter. This study was the initial one aiming to probe into the co-expression and clinical significance of HIF-1 alpha and GLUT-3 in glioma. One hundred and twenty cases of glioma tissues and ten human normal cerebral tissues decompressed in glioma excision were examined using immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The expression of HIF-1 alpha and GLUT-3 increased gradually with the increase of pathological grade of glioma, respectively. There was significant difference in the expression of HIF-1 alpha and GLUT-3 in every two groups, respectively. There was a positive correlation between HIF-1 alpha and GLUT-3. in conclusion, the expression of HIF-1 alpha and GLUT-3 in glioma was correlated significantly with tumors' pathological grade, which can be taken as a pair of useful markers for predicting the biological behavior of glioma. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.