title: Expression of Fas and Fas ligand in human testicular germ cell tumours.
abstract: In the present study, we analysed the expression of Fas ligand (FasL) and its cognate receptor Fas in 14 seminomatous testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) and six normal testicular tissues obtained following orchiectomy. Tissue samples have been processed to prepare either total RNA or protein extracts or fixed and embedded in paraffin for immunohistochemistry (IHC) experiments. Quantitative RT-PCR experiments demonstrated in TGCT a significant (p < 0.01) increase of the FasL mRNA expression of 21.1 +/- 5.4 fold, with respect to normal tissues. On the contrary, in the same cancer tissues, the levels of Fas mRNA were significantly (p < 0.01) reduced to 0.27 +/- 0.06 fold. These observations were confirmed in western blot experiments showing a significant increase of FasL and a concomitant decrease of Fas proteins in testicular cancer tissues, with respect to normal testis. Moreover, IHC experiments showed a strong FasL immuno-reactivity in six out of eight TGCT samples analysed, while Fas immuno-positivity was found in cancer cells of only two TGCT tissues. In addition, in all tumour samples, infiltrating lymphocytes were Fas positive. However, no correlation could be observed between Fas or FasL mRNA variations and clinical parameters such as patient's age, TNM stage or tumour size. We also compared the serum levels of soluble FasL (sFasL) of 15 patients affected by seminomatous TGCT, of four patients with non-seminomatous TGCT and six age-matched healthy males. No significant differences in sFasL serum level could be identified. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that the majority of seminomas are characterized by an increased expression of FasL and a concomitant reduction of Fas, with respect to human normal testis, and that sFasL serum level is not a tumour marker for patients affected by TGCT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baldini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ulisse
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marchioni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Benedetto
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giovannetti
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petrangeli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sentinelli
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Donnorso
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Reale
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mottolese
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gandini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lenzi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Armiento
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood; D018450:Disease Progression; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018239:Seminoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019014:fas Receptor