Endocrine Abstracts

Testicular cancer has a peak incidence in young men between the ages of 15 and 40, with an increased frequency in individuals with disorders of the reproductive tract such as hypospadia and cryptorchidism. It has been proposed that carcinoma in situ cells are derived from testicular germ cells that have not differentiated appropriately during fetal life, perhaps as a result of disturbance of the hormonal environment. The aim of this study is to investigate whether estrogen may have an effect on the development and differentiation of testicular germ cells.
We have used specific immunohistotchemistry to a) define stages of normal germ cell differentiation by studying expression patterns of germ cell markers; b) establish whether fetal germ cells express oestrogen receptors. To complement this immunohistochemical approach we are also using the technique of laser capture microdissection to isolate specific cell types from human fetal testis samples. To determine whether oestrogens have direct affects on germ cell differentiation, cell division or apoptosis we have incubated segments of human fetal testicular tissue in the presence or absence of oestradiol.
We have shown that fetal germ cells do not express full length wild type wild type oestrogen receptors and that affects of oestrogens on fetal testes are therefore likely to be mediated via somatic Sertoli cells.