Histology of human glioblastoma transplanted on chicken chorioallantoic membrane

Abstract

Glioblastoma is the most malignant tumor in the range of cerebral astrocytic gliomas. A lot of experimental models are used to evaluate various properties of glioblastoma. Chicken chorioallantoic membrane model is one of them. Objective. To evaluate histology and survival of glioblastoma tumors taken immediately from operating theatre and transplanted on chicken chorioallantoic membrane. Materials and methods. Glioblastoma samples obtained from 10 patients were transplanted onto 200 eggs. Overall, we used 15 tumors; only 5 of them were not glioblastomas as it was revealed later. Results. The transplanted tumors survive up to 6 days. Transplants do not survive longer because during embryo’s development the nourishing membrane dries. Transplanted glioblastomas exhibited the same features as original glioblastomas – necrosis, endothelium proliferation, cellular polymorphism – while transplanted glioblastomas also showed glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), vimentin, Ki67, S100 protein, neurofilament immunoreactivity, and infiltration of macrophages (CD68) and T cells (CD3+, CD8+). Transplanted glioblastomas did not show any immunoreactivity of p53. Invasion of vessels from the chicken into transplanted tumor is not observed. Chicken erythrocytes did not appear within the transplants, and tumor cells invade chicken tissue at the minimum. Conclusion. Our data show that transplanted pieces of glioblastoma survive with all cytological features. The presence of macrophages (marker CD68) and T cells (markers CD3+ and CD8+) can be registered in the transplant. The data revealed that transplanted glioblastoma remains as insulated unit, which survives from nourishment of the chorioallantoic membrane apparently only by diffusion. The features of original tumor-host reaction of the patient remained too.

Comparison of tumour morphology and structure from U87 and U118 glioma cells cultured on chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane

“…In the case of tumour creation from U118, the results are restricted only to one study by Durupt et al (7), where implementation of both cell lines was successful; however, the U87 cell line had a better ability to create noticeable tumours, as previously demonstrated by Balciūniene et al (1). For the U118 line, the intensity of tumour creation was significantly lower; hence, only 40% of inoculated eggs developed a tumour.…”

“…U87 line cells sticked closely to each other and filled free spaces in a tumour, while U118 cells were loosely arranged. However, the cell density in both cases was much higher than in the normal human brain nerve tissue (1). Furthermore, the histological analysis of tumours revealed the presence of multinucleated giant cells.…”

“…However, these models are weak because they are characterised by variable growth rates and poor penetration, and it is also difficult to obtain morphological data (3,4). The chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model is a wellestablished method to keep explanted material alive and supply it with oxygen and nourishment (1). This model provides a useful tool to study the effects of molecules, which interfere with experimental tumours derived from cancer cell lines (2).…”

“…It usually penetrates deeply into the brain, making the tumour's entire removal very difficult. The main features of GBM are cell polymorphism and mitotic activity, vascular abnormalities, and remarkable necrotic foci (1).…”

Prognostic Significance of Immunohistochemical Markers in Glioma Patients

“…It was found that the percentage of p53-positive nuclei, which was higher in the tumors grown on the CAM than on rats, did not correlate with the Ki-67 LI. Other researchers have also reported little correlation between this pair of immunohistochemical markers (Cunningham et al, 1997;Balčiũnienė et al, 2009). (x40) Vimentin is an intermediate filament protein, which marks the mesenchymal cell phenotype.…”