Cancer-testis (CT) genes are expressed in a variety of human cancers, but not in normal tissues except for testis, and represent promising targets for immunotherapy and gene therapy. We investigated the expression of 10 CT genes (MAGE-1, MAGE-3, MAGE-4, GAGE, NY-ESO-1, SSX-1, HOM-MEL-40/SSX-2, SSX-4, HOM-TES14/SCP-1, and HOM-TES-85) in 21 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biopsy specimens. The mos...

SEREX (serological analysis of recombinant tumor cDNA expression libraries) has been applied to several different tumor types and has led to the identification of a wide range of tumor antigens. In this study, a breast cancer library and a normal testicular library were analyzed using autologous and allogeneic breast cancer sera. Thirty genes were isolated, including 27 known genes and 3 previo...

BACKGROUND Despite diagnostic and therapeutic advances in head and neck cancer, the 5-year survival of patients with laryngeal cancer has not improved in the last 30 years. Several recent studies indicate that specific targets for immunotherapeutic approaches can be useful in the control of cancer. There is considerable interest in the expression of cancer testis antigens in human cancers since...

The commonest reproductive disorders in human males at birth (cryptorchidism, hypospadias) or young adulthood (low sperm counts, testis germ cell cancer) may comprise a ‘testicular dysgenesis syndrome’ (TDS) resulting from fetal testis dysfunction. We and others have developed an animal model for TDS, involving in utero exposure of pregnant rats to di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), which is a common ...

The commonest reproductive disorders in human males at birth (cryptorchidism, hypospadias) or young adulthood (low sperm counts, testis germ cell cancer) may comprise a ‘testicular dysgenesis syndrome’ (TDS) resulting from fetal testis dysfunction. We and others have developed an animal model for TDS, involving in utero exposure of pregnant rats to di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), which is a common ...

BACKGROUND Reptiles are phylogenically important group of organisms as mammals have evolved from them. Wall lizard testis exhibits clearly distinct morphology during various phases of a reproductive cycle making them an interesting model to study regulation of spermatogenesis. Studies on reptile spermatogenesis are negligible hence this study will prove to be an important resource. METHODOLOG...

Lanosterol 14alpha-demethylase (CYP51) produces follicular fluid meiosis-activating sterol (FF-MAS), which is converted further to testis meiosis-activating sterol (T-MAS). MAS are intermediates in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, with the ability to trigger resumption of oocyte meiosis in vitro. In contrast to the liver, where pre- and post-MAS genes are upregulated coordinately at the le...

The commonest reproductive disorders in human males at birth (cryptorchidism, hypospadias) or young adulthood (low sperm counts, testis germ cell cancer) may comprise a ‘testicular dysgenesis syndrome’ (TDS) resulting from fetal testis dysfunction. We and others have developed an animal model for TDS, involving in utero exposure of pregnant rats to di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), which is a common ...

We applied a combined data mining and experimental validation approach for the discovery of germ cell-specific genes aberrantly expressed in cancer. Six of 21 genes with confirmed germ cell specificity were detected in tumors, indicating that ectopic activation of testis-specific genes in cancer is a frequent phenomenon. Most surprisingly one of the genes represented lactate dehydrogenase C (LD...