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...

Cancer-testis (CT) antigens are predominantly expressed in testis or placenta, but absent in most adult tissues. During malignant transformation CT genes are often activated. CT antigen 16 (CT16, PAGE5) is frequently expressed in advanced melanoma but its biological function has been unknown. To examine the role of CT16 in cell survival we knocked it down in A2058 melanoma cells using specific ...

Genes expressed in testes are critical to male reproductive success, affecting spermatogenesis, sperm competition, and sperm-egg interaction. Comparing the evolution of testis proteins at different taxonomic levels can reveal which genes and functional classes are targets of natural and sexual selection and whether the same genes are targets among taxa. Here we examine the evolution of testis-e...

The SSX genes are members of the cancer-testis (CT) antigen family. SSX2, the prototype SSX gene, was found by serological analysis of antigens by recombinant expression cloning (SEREX). Since little is known about SSX expression in gynecological malignancies, we investigated SSX mRNA expression in 115 gynecological cancer specimens and 25 normal control samples by RT-PCR. We also tested the hu...

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...

To identify putative biomarkers of porcine spermatogonial stem cells (pSSCs), total RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis was performed on 5- and 180-day-old porcine testes and on pSSC colonies that were established under low temperature culture conditions as reported previously. In total, 10,184 genes were selected using Cufflink software, followed by a logarithm and quantile normalization of the ...

Objective: Unequal usage of synonymous codons encoding an amino acid is termed as codon usage bias. Synonymous codon usage bias is an inevitable phenomenon in organismic taxa across the three domains of life, i.e. plants, animals and microbes. Here we report the codon usage pattern in human testis-specific genes found in Y chromosome. Testis-specific genes are associated with several dysfunctio...

Tumours frequently activate genes whose expression is otherwise biased to the testis, collectively known as cancer-testis antigens (CTAs). The extent to which CTA expression represents epiphenomena or confers tumorigenic traits is unknown. In this study, to address this, we implemented a multidimensional functional genomics approach that incorporates 7 different phenotypic assays in 11 distinct...