Relationship between PTEN gene expression and differentiation of human glioma

Objective. To investigate the relationship between PTEN gene expression and differentiation of glioma. Material and methods. The quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method was applied to detect PTEN mRNA levels in glioma tissues. Tumor-adjacent normal tissues and benign brain tumors were used as controls. Relative PTEN mRNA levels were determined as the ratio of PTEN and GAPDH, which were correlated with the clinical pathological results. Results. PTEN mRNA levels were significantly lower in the glioma tissues than in the benign brain tumors and tumor-adjacent normal tissues, whereas there were no statistical differences between benign brain tumor and the tumor-adjacent normal tissues. According to the pathological examinations, PTEN mRNA levels were higher in the high differential glioma than the low differential glioma. Conclusions. PTEN gene expression was suppressed in the glioma, which is related to the clinical-pathological results. It is suggested that determination of PTEN mRNA levels by RT-PCR could be a novel marker of disease classification.