Distinguishing epigenetic features of preneoplastic testis tissues adjacent to seminomas and nonseminomas.

ABSTRACT: PIWI pathway proteins are expressed during spermatogenesis where they play a key role in germ cell development. Epigenetic loss of PIWI proteins expression was previously demonstrated in testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs), implying their involvement in TGCT development. In this work, apart from studying only normal testis and TGCT samples, we also analyzed an intermediate stage, i.e. preneoplastic testis tissues adjacent to TGCTs. Importantly, in this study, we minimized the contribution of patient-to-patient heterogeneity by using matched preneoplastic/TGCT samples. Surprisingly, expression of germ cell marker DDX4 suggests that spermatogenesis is retained in premalignant testis tissues adjacent to nonseminoma, but not those adjacent to seminoma. Moreover, this pattern is followed by exp

SUBMITTER: Gainetdinov IV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5008371 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature