BACKGROUND The fish medaka is the first vertebrate capable of full spermatogenesis in vitro from self-renewing spermatogonial stem cells to motile test-tube sperm. Precise staging and molecular dissection of this process has been hampered by the lack of suitable molecular markers. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We have generated a normalized medaka testis cDNA library and obtained 7040 hi...

Male-biased genes-those expressed at higher levels in males than in females-are underrepresented on the X chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster. Several evolutionary models have been posited to explain this so-called demasculinization of the X. Here, we show that the apparent paucity of male-biased genes on the X chromosome is attributable to global X-autosome differences in expression in Droso...

Transcripts with ESTs derived exclusively or predominantly from testis, and not from other normal tissues, are likely to be products of genes with testis-restricted expression, and are thus potential cancer/ testis (CT) antigen genes. A list of 371 genes with such characteristics was compiled by analyzing publicly available EST databases. RT-PCR analysis of normal and tumor tissues was performe...

Boar taint is an unpleasant smell and taste of pork meat derived from some entire male pigs. The main causes of boar taint are the two compounds androstenone (5α-androst-16-en-3-one) and skatole (3-methylindole). It is crucial to understand the genetic mechanism of boar taint to select pigs for lower androstenone levels and thus reduce boar taint. The aim of the present study was to investigate...

Original Article Background and Objectives Cancer testis antigens (CTA) provide attractive targets for cancer-specific immunotherapy. Although CTA genes are expressed in some normal tissues, such as the testis, this immunologically protected site lacks MHC I expression and as such, does not present self antigens to T cells. To date, CTA genes have been shown to be expressed in a range of solid ...

AIM To identify and characterize a novel gene with potential roles in testis development and spermatogenesis. METHODS A cDNA microarray was constructed from a human testis large insert cDNA library and hybridized with probes of human or mouse adult and fetal testes. Differentially expressed genes were isolated and sequenced. RT-PCR was used to test the tissue distribution of the genes of inte...

The main genetic cause of male infertility is represented by the Klinefelter Syndrome (KS), a condition accounting for 3% of all cases of infertility and up to15% of cases of azoospermia. KS is generally characterized by azoospermia; approximately 10% of cases have severe oligozoospermia. Among these, the 30-40% of patients show hypospermatogenesis. The mechanisms leading to adult testis dysfun...

11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) and type 2 (11β-HSD2) are expressed in rat testis, where they regulate the local concentrations of glucocorticoids. Here, we investigated the expression and localization of 11β-HSD in rat testis during postnatal development, and the regulation of these genes by luteinizing hormone (LH) and androgens. mRNA and protein levels were analyzed by qua...

Most of the genes encoding proteins that function in the mitochondria are located in the nucleus and are called nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes, or N-mt genes. In Drosophila melanogaster , about 23% of N-mt genes fall into gene families, and all duplicates with tissue-biased expression (76%) are testis biased. These genes are enriched for energy-related functions and tend to be older than o...

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women. Cancer/Testis antigens are immunogenic proteins ectopically expressed in human neoplasms. Synaptonemal complex protein 3 (SYCP3) belongs to cancer/testis genes family involved in meiotic events and spermatogenesis. The aim of this study was to express analysis of SYCP3 in breast cancer and validate it as a breast cancer biomarker. ...