Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on February 15, 2008
Human Reproduction 2008 23(4):775-782; doi:10.1093/humrep/den010
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/4/775    most recent
den010v2
den010v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kristensen, D. M.
Right arrow Articles by Leffers, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kristensen, D. M.
Right arrow Articles by Leffers, H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Presumed pluripotency markers UTF-1 and REX-1 are expressed in human adult testes and germ cell neoplasms

David M. Kristensen1,3, John E. Nielsen1, Niels E. Skakkebaek1, Niels Graem2, Grete K. Jacobsen2, Ewa Rajpert-De Meyts1 and Henrik Leffers1

1 University Department of Growth and Reproduction, Section GR5064, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark 2 Department of Pathology, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

3 Correspondence address. E-mail: moebjerg{at}imbg.ku.dk

BACKGROUND: UTF-1 and REX-1/ZFP42 are transcription factors involved in pluripotency. Because of phenotypic similarities between pluripotent embryonic stem cells and testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) and the derivation of pluripotent cells from testes, we investigated the expression of UTF-1 and REX-1 during human gonadal development and in TGCT.

METHODS: Expression of UTF-1 and REX-1 was studied in 52 specimens from human gonadal development and in 86 samples from TGCT.

RESULTS: UTF-1 and REX-1 were expressed throughout male gonadal development. In the mature testis, UTF-1 was expressed in spermatogonia, whereas REX-1 was expressed in meiotic cells and, together with OCT-3/4, in primary oocytes. Both UTF-1 and REX-1 were expressed in testicular carcinoma in situ and in TGCT. Contrarily to REX-1, UTF-1 was expressed in all spermatocytic seminomas.

CONCLUSIONS: Unlike other pluripotency markers NANOG and OCT-3/4, UTF-1 and REX-1 are expressed throughout human testes development. The expression pattern indicated that UTF-1 plays a possible role in spermatogonial self-renewal, whereas expression of REX-1 in meiotic cells from both testes and ovary indicate a role in meiosis. UFT-1 and REX-1 are expressed in TGCT and the high abundance of UTF-1 in spermatocytic seminomas is consistent with the hypothesis that this tumour type originates from spermatogonia.

Key words: germ cell differentiation/pluripotency/UTF-1/REX-1/germ cell neoplasms

Submitted on September 19, 2007; resubmitted on October 24, 2007; accepted on December 5, 2007.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.