Association between laminin γ1 expression and meningioma grade, recurrence, and progression-free survival

Laminins are central components of basement membranes and play important roles in cell adhesion, proliferation, and migration. However, the role of laminins in tumor progression has not been thoroughly investigated in meningiomas. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the expression of laminin gamma 1 in various grades of meningiomas in Chinese patients. In the current study, clinical and pathological data for 32 meningioma patients with various tumor grades were collected. The expression of laminin gamma 1 in each tumor was assessed by using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), Western blot and immunohistochemical analysis and was correlated with the meningioma grade, tumor recurrence and patient survival. Patient prognoses were attained and the progression-free survival was calculated based on the Kaplan-Meier method. A two-sided probability cutoff of 0.05 was chosen for statistical significance. A total of 32 meningioma patients with various pathological subtypes (WHO grade I: 13, grade II: 10 and grade III: 9) were enrolled in this study. The qPCR results showed that laminin gamma 1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in grade III meningiomas than in grade I meningiomas (p < 0.05), although there was no significant difference in laminin gamma 1 expression between grade II and grade I meningiomas (p > 0.05). Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis confirmed that the expression of laminin gamma 1 protein was relatively higher in grade III meningiomas when compared with grade I meningiomas. Higher levels of laminin gamma 1 expression in meningiomas are associated with a significantly shorter tumor recurrence time (p < 0.05) and a decreased patient survival time (p < 0.05). Our results suggest that laminin gamma 1 is associated with meningioma grades and could play a role in enhancing tumor invasion. Laminin gamma 1 could be used as a predictor for meningioma recurrence and patient survival. Furthermore, laminin gamma 1 may represent a druggable molecular target for future therapies for tumors that overexpress this marker.