Figure 4

Human germ cell tumors. Sections of neoplastic germ cells of IGCNU (A-C), seminoma (D-F), embryonal carcinoma (G-I) stained for BLIMP1 (A, D, G), PRMT5 (B, E, and H) and methylated histones H2A/H4 (C, F, I). In Figure A-C tubules with IGCNU are shown with consistent nuclear expression of BLIMP1 and Me H2A/H4 in neoplastic germ cells (A, BLIMP1; C, Me H2A/H4). PRMT5 is expressed in the cytoplasm of neoplastic germ cells (B). Notice that no expression is present in Sertoli cells. In Figures D-F expression in seminomas is presented. Notice the variation of the expression of BLIMP1, being low or moderate in the majority of the cells (D). PRMT5 is expressed in the cytoplasm of most seminoma cells, but some neoplastic cells also show nuclear staining (E). Figure F shows a strong nuclear staining of MeH2A/H4 in most seminoma cells. Size bar is 50 μm. Quantification of the relative expression of BLIMP1 (K) and PRMT5 (L) normalized to β-Actin and compared to normal testicular tissue. Bars above the graph indicate p-values. (M, N) Expression values for BLIMP1 (M) and PRMT5 (N) from independent Affymetrix expression analyses (as referred in 23). Data are plotted as Log2 (y-axis) after normalization. Abbreviations: Normal testicular tissue (N), IGCNU, seminoma (SE), embryonal carcinoma (EC).