Abstract
Summary: Pyruvate kinase and phosphofructokinase isozymic expression have been investigated in 62 childhood cancers by electrofocusing and immunoneutralization. Isozymic expression was roughly intermediate between that of the corresponding normal adult and fetal tissue. There were unique features distinguishing malignant from both adult and fetal tissues. In addition, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase appeared to be excellent markers for nervous tissue and skeletal muscle differentiation. In neuroblastomas there was a close relationship between the differentiation level of tumors and their isozyme composition. The same phenomenon was observed in rhabdomyosarcomas and teratomas.
Speculation: Multiple isozymic markers could be used as a tool to detect some types of tumoral differentiation, the degree of this differentiation and, in some cases, degree of malignancy. In addition, the fact that the malignant tissue isozymic patterns studied never appear to be exactly similar to their normal fetal counterpart suggests that malignancy is associated with a special pattern of differentiation rather than to indifferentiation or de-differentiation alone.
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Cottreau, D., Rousseau-Merck, MF., Nezelof, C. et al. Pyruvate Kinase and Phosphofructokinase Isozymes in Childhood Cancers. Pediatr Res 16, 199–202 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198203000-00007
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198203000-00007