EXPRESSION OF THE C-KIT PROTOONCOGENE AND ITS LIGAND STEM-CELL FACTOR(SCF) IN NORMAL AND MALIGNANT HUMAN TESTICULAR TISSUE

Recent findings suggest an important role of the proto-oncogene c-kit, a surface membrane receptor of the tyrosine kinase family, and its li gand stem cell factor (SCF) in normal spermatogenesis and possibly in the pathogenesis of certain testicular germ cell tumors. To further in vestigate this potential role, the expression of c-kit and SCF was stu died in normal and malignant human testicular tissue specimens at the mRNA and protein level by Northern blot analysis and immunohistochemis try, respectively. The detection of the c-kit receptor in normal human germ cells and its natural ligand SCF in Sertoli cells suggests the p resence of a local trophic regulatory system that may be active in hum an spermatogenesis. Additionally, c-kit expression was detected in the seminoma but not in the nonseminoma subtype of human testicular germ cell tumors (GCT). Stem cell factor was not expressed at the mRNA leve l in tissue from either subtype of GCT as determined by Northern blot analysis; however, the protein was detected immunohistochemically in t he cytoplasm of rare tumor cells.