Clinical implications and prognostic value of EMMPRIN/CD147 and MMP2 expression in pediatric gliomas

Extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN), a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, is present on the surface of tumor cells where it stimulates adjacent fibroblasts to produce matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). We have analyzed the clinicopathological characteristics of EMMPRIN and MMP2 expression in normal brain tissue and pediatric gliomas and evaluated their prognostic value in diagnosing the latter. Immunochemistry analysis revealed EMMPRIN and MMP2 expression in cryo-sections of pediatric gliomas (45 samples) and normal brain tissue (20 samples). Both EMMPRIN and MMP2 were expressed in normal brain and glioma tissues with different levels of malignancy. The intensively positive expression rates of EMMPRIN (22/27) and MMP2 (21/27) in anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma tissues were significantly higher than those in normal brain and low-grade astrocytoma tissues (2/28 and ½8, respectively). Spearman analysis indicated that the expression level of EMMPRIN was significantly positively correlated with that of MMP2 (r = 0.86, p < 0.01). The positive expression of EMMPRIN and MMP2 was associated with higher grade gliomas. Patients with EMMPRIN+/MMP2+ expression had the lowest survival rate (p < 0.01). Based on these results, we conclude that EMMPRIN and MMP2 are expressed differently in normal brain and pediatric gliomas. The detection of their co-expression may facilitate the prediction of pediatric gliomas prognosis.