Abstract
<p>We have previously found that <em>Sema5A, </em>a member of the semaphorin gene family, is up-regulated in pediatric pilocytic astrocytomas (PA) at the mRNA level by microarray analysis and real-time RT-PCR. By further analysis of the expression level of all 17 semaphorin genes in the microarray dataset, we found that <em>Sema5A</em> and <em>Sema3E</em> are the only two semaphorin genes that are highly up-regulated in pilocytic astrocytomas. In this study, the up-regulation of <em>Sema3E</em> was further confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Furthermore, the over-expression of both SEMA3E and SEMA5A proteins were also confirmed by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Since pilocytic astrocytoma is characterized by extensive vasculature, co-immunofluorescent staining of both CD31 and SEMA3E (or SEMA5A) was performed. The result showed that a higher expression of SEMA3E was around the CD31 positive endothelial cells. Based on semaphorin’s function in angiogenesis and a higher expression of SEMA3E and SEMA5A around endothelial cells in these PA samples, these genes could be potential biological markers and anti-angiogenesis therapeutic targets for pilocytic astrocytomas.<strong></strong></p>
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