title: Dimethyl sulfoxide induces chemotherapeutic resistance in the treatment of testicular embryonal carcinomas.
abstract: Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an amphipathic molecule that is used as a solvent in biological studies and as a vehicle for drug therapy. The present study was designed to evaluate the potential effects of DMSO as a solvent in the treatment of testicular embryonal carcinomas (ECs). DMSO was applied to two human EC cell lines (NEC8 and NEC14), with the treated cells evaluated in relation to cisplatin (CDDP) resistance, differentiation (using Vimentin, Fibronectin, TRA-1-60, and SSEA-1 and -3 as markers) and stemness (denoted by expression of SOX2 and OCT3/4). Furthermore, DNA methyltransferase (DNMT-1, -3A and -3L) expression and methylation status were analyzed. DMSO induced resistance to CDDP, aberrant differentiation and reduction of stemness-related markers in each of the EC cell lines. The expression levels of DNMT-3L and -3A were reduced in response to DMSO, while this treatment also affected DNA methylation. The data demonstrated that DMSO perturbed differentiation, reduced stemness and induced resistance to CDDP in human EC cells. Therefore, DMSO could reduce drug efficacy against EC cells and its use should be carefully managed in the clinical application of chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan ; Department of Urology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kita
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryoji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kushima
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawauchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan.
authors.forename: Tokuhiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chano
keywords: cisplatin; differentiation; dimethyl sulfoxide; embryonal carcinoma; methylation