EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF TESTICULAR TERATOMAS IN MICE

Cellular localization of alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin in germ cell tumors of the testis using and indirect immunoperoxidase technique

An immunohistologic study of 21 patients with germ cell tumors of the testis with measured serum levels of chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and alpha-feto protein (AFP) was undertaken to correlate the various types of neoplasms with the presence of these tumor markers in the tissue and serum. AFP was demonstrated in mononuclear embryonal cells within embryonal carcinoma and endodermal sinus tumor. HCG was identified within syncytiotrophoblastic giant cells, frequently in association with embryonal carcinoma, and rarely with endodermal sinus tumor and seminoma, as well as in the syncytiotropho-blastic component of choriocarcinoma. Eighteen of the 21 patients (86%) had elevated tumor markers in their serum; serum HCG alone was elevated in five (24%), AFP alone in five (24%) and both were elevated in eight (38%). There was tissue localization of HCG in 12 of the 13 patients (92%) with elevated serum HCG while AFP was identified in the tumor in eight of the 13 patients (53%) with elevated serum AFP levels. Based on these findings, a tentative immunohistologic classification of germ cell tumors utilizing AFP and HCG is proposed. Thus, embryonal carcinoma, adult type, is frequently associated with both AFP and HCG, endodermal sinus tumor with AFP and choriocarcinoma with HCG, whereas pure seminoma and teratoma are unlikely to be associated with either marker.

Malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary

This article reviews 281 malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and highlights their distinctive clinical and pathologic features. Emphasis is placed on the importance of a combined therapeutic approach utilizing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. The rationale for unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy in conjunction with chemotherapy for certain types of neoplasm confined to one ovary (stage 1a) is emphasized, and the role of human chorionic gonadotropin and alpha-fetoprotein as tumor markers in the management of patients with these tumors is discussed.

A new allele of ocular retardation: early development and morphogenetic cell death

The inheritance and some developmental effects of a new allele of ocular retardation (orJ) are described. Affected animals or 12 days of gestation, show reduced cell death in the eye cup and thickening of the inner wall of the optic fissure. At 11 to 13 dyas of gestation orJ/orJ eyes grafted to the testis do not produce retina as their orJ+ littermates do. Adult animals have small eyes with closed lids, abnormal retinal layers, and no optic nerve.

A light and electron microscopical study of the nervous tissue of mouse teratomas

Teratomas are tumours which may arise spontaneously in the testis or ovary or may be induced experimentally by the implantation of young embryos into ectopic sites. In this study the nervous tissue within mouse teratomas was investigated by light and electronmicroscopy. Characteristic neuroepithelial tubules, neurons, glia and neuropil were recognized and showed no ultrastructural abnormality apart from collagenous infiltration. Synapses were frequently observed. However, other features of mature C.N.S. tissue including myelin and complex synaptic configurations were never seen, and it was not possible to recognize distinct classes of neurons, or organizations of cells and processes which characterized specific regions of the C.N.S. The limited differentiation of the nervous tissue of teratomas is discussed with reference to the normal development of C.N.A. in vivo and in vitro. The presence of synapses in the nervous tissue of teratomas is interpreted as a reflection of an intrinsic tendency of neuronal processes to form these specialized contacts even under conditions which prevent the development of certain other characteristics of nervous tissue.

An experimental mouse testicular teratoma as a model for neuroepithelial neoplasia and differentiation. I. Light microscopic and tissue and organ culture observations

The various stages of divergent neuroepithelial differentiation were studied in the solid transplants of a transplantable mouse testicular teratoma (OTT-6050) maintained in both ascitic and solid forms. They included: a) areas of undifferentiated medullary epithelium corresponding to the rare human medulloepithelioma; b) areas of neuroblastic differentiation corresponding to neuroblastoma, with more mature neuronal differentiation corresponding to ganglioneuroma or, when mixed with glial elements, to ganglioglioma; and c) more mature neuroglial areas resembling astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma or ependymoma, as well as more primitive areas corresponding to ependymoblastoma. In tissue culture using collagen-coated coverslips, astrocytic differentiation was found in the outgrowth zone after 15 days, confirmed by immunofluorescence with antibodies to an astroglia-specific protein. In organ culture systems, glial components, including ependymal structures, were preserved in tumor explants, and astrocytic differentiation, as expressed by glial fiber formation, was increased after 4 to 6 weeks in vitro. No neuronal differentiation was demonstrable, however. The neuroepithelial component of this experimental teratoma may provide a model for the study of neoplastic neuroepithelial differentiation.

The treatment of low differentiated germinal cancers of the testis using mithramycin

Twenty-six patients with metastases from a germinal cancer of the testis were treated with Mithramycin. After an observation time of between one-half-3 one-half years, 18 are still alive, of which 12 appear to be free from cancer. The 2-year survival rate is 50% (5/10). The side effects of Mithramycin therapy are described and discussed.

The loss of phenotypic traits by differentiated cells. 3. The reversible behavior of chondrocytes in primary cultures

Observations were made on the behavior of chondrocytes grown under various conditions in vitro. The chondrocytes in 10-day embryonic chick vertebrae were grown as cultures of intact vertebrae, as pellets of chondrocytes liberated from their matrix, and as monodispersed cells plated out on plasma clots. Cartilage matrix was stained metachromatically with toluidine blue. Radioautographs were made of incorporated H(3)-thymidine, H(3)-proline, and S(35)-sulfate to determine the extent of DNA synthesis, collagen synthesis, and chondroitin sulfate synthesis, respectively. Chondrocytes in intact vertebrae or in pellets are rounded and actively synthesizing chondroitin sulfate and collagen. There is little DNA synthesis by cells in either vertebrae or pellets. Chondrocytes grown as monodisperse cells rapidly cease synthesizing cytologically detectable chondroitin sulfate and are induced to synthesize DNA and divide. There is a change in the shape of these chondrocytes from a rounded to a more stellate condition which accompanies the shift in metabolic activity. Conversely, when the cells attain a certain cell density, they reacquire a rounded shape, cease dividing, and again synthesize chondroitin sulfate. Clusters of chondrocytes synthesize more chondroitin sulfate than isolated chondrocytes. It is concluded that most chondrocytes synthesizing chondroitin sulfate do not concurrently synthesize DNA. Interaction between associated chondrocytes is important in inducing and maintaining chondroitin sulfate synthesis in genetically determined chondrocytes. Failure of interaction between chondrocytes leads to DNA synthesis and cell multiplication.