Summary
The presence of high levels of metallothionein (MT) in developing mammalian cells is well documented. It has been suggested that the developmental profile and gene expression of MT is similar to that of the so-called oncodevelopmental gene products such as a-fetoprotein. In this study tissue sections of nine human embryonal carcinomas of the testis were tested by means of the avidin-biotin peroxidase complex for the presence of MT. The antigen was localized in variable amounts in the cytoplasm and nucleus in tumour cells in all cases. There was evidence that immunoreactivity was related to the histological growth pattern of tumour cells. These findings suggest that MT may be considered an oncodevelopmental product which could be useful as a tumour marker. In addition, the histology of these tumours might predict MT expression; this may prove of value in testing the hypothesis of MT-related emergence of drug-resistant cell lines in the course of treatment of tumours with metal-containing chemotherapeutic agents.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrews GK, Adamson ED, Gedamu L (1984) The ontogeny of expression of murine metallothionein: comparison with the a-fctoprotein gene. Dev Biol 103:294–303
Banerjee D, Onasaka S, Cherian MG (1982) Immunohistochemical localization of metallothionein in cell nucleus and cytoplasm of rat liver and kidney. Toxicology 24:95–105
Cherian MG, Goyer RA (1978) Metallothioneins and their role in the metabolism and toxicity of metals. Life Sci 23:1–8
Durham DM, Palmiter RD (1981) Transcriptional regulation of the mouse MT-1 gne by heavy metals. J Biol Chem 256:5712–5716
Eastman A, Richon VM (1985) Biochemical mechanisms of platinum antitumor drugs. McBrien DC, Slater TF (eds) Oxford, IRL Press, p 91
Hsu M, Raine L, Fanger H (1981) A comparative study of the peroxidase anti-peroxidase method and an avidin-biotin complex method for studying polypeptide hormones with radioimmunoassay antibodies. Am J Clin Patrol 75:734
Jacobsen GK (1986) Histogenetic conciderations concerning germ cell tumors. Morphological and immunohistochemical comperative investigation of the human embryo and testicular germ cell tumors. Virchows Arch [A] 408:509–525
Kagi JHR, Nordberg M (eds) (1979) Metallothionein. Basel, Birkhäuser Verlag, pp 48–116
Kelley SL, Basu A, Teicher BA, Hacker MP, Hamer DH, Lazo JS (1988) Overexpression of metallothionein confers resistance to anticancer drugs. Science 241:1813–1815
Mostofi FK (1980) Pathology of germ cell tumors of testis. A progress report. Cancer 45:1735–1754
Mostofi FK, Price E (1973) Tumors of the male genital system. AFIP 2nd series, pp 42–45
Nartey N, Cherian MG, Banerjee D (1987) Immunohistochemical localization of metallothionein in human thyroid tumors. Am J Pathol 129:177–182
Onosaka S, Cherian MG (1981) The induced synthesis of metallothioneins in various tissues of rat in response to metals. Effect of repeated injection of cadmium salts. Toxicology 22:91–101
Onosaka S, Cherian MG (1982) The induced synthesis of metallothioneins in various tissues of rats in response to metals. Influence of zinc status and effect of pancreatic metalloprotein. Toxicology 23:11–20
Pfahl M, McGinnis D, Hendricks M, Groner B, Hynes NE (1983) Correlation of glucocorticoid receptor binding sites on MMTV proviral DNA with hormone inducible transcription. Science 222:1341
Riordan JR, Richards V (1980) Human fetal liver contains both zinc and copper-rich forms of metallothionein. J Biol Chem 255:5380–5384
Ryden L, Deutsch HF (1978) Preparation and properties of the major copper-binding component in human fetal liver. J Biol Chem 253:519–524
Sutherland RM (1988) Cell and environment interactions in tumor microregions: the multicell spheroid model. Science 240:177–184
Templeton DM, Banerjee D, Cherian MG (1984) Metallothionein synthesis and localization in relation to metal storage in rat liver during gestation. Can J Biochem Cell Biol 63:16–22
Tohyama C, Shaikh ZA (1978) Cross-reactivity of metallothioneins from different origins with rabit anti-rat hepatic metallothionein antibody. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 84:907–913
Valle BL, Galdes A (1984) The metallobiochemistry of zinc enzymes. In: Meister A (ed) Advances in Enzymology and related areas of Molecular Biology. New York, John Wiley & Sons, pp 283–430
Waalkes MP, Perantoni A (1986) Isolation of a novel metal binding protein from rat testes. Characterization and distinction from metallothionein. J Biol Chem 261:13097–13103
Walters RA, Enger DMN, Hildebrand CE, Griffith JK (1981) Genes coding for metaMnduced synthesis of RNA sequences are differentially amplified and regulated in mammalian cells. J Supramol Struct (Suppl) 5:439
Webb M, Cain K (1982) Functions of metallothionein. Biochem Pharmacol 31:137–142
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kontozoglou, T.E., Banerjee, D. & Cherian, M.G. Immunohistochemical localization of metallothionein in human testicular embryonal carcinoma cells. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 415, 545–549 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00718648
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00718648