Increased expression of urokinase plasminogen activator and its cognate receptor in human seminomas

The expression of the above genes was evaluated by means of quantitative RT-PCR, western blot, zymographic analysis and immunohistochemistry.Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of 14 seminomas demonstrated that uPA and uPAR mRNAs were, with respect to control tissues, increased in tumor tissues by 3.80 ± 0.74 (p < 0.01) and 6.25 ± 1.18 (p < 0.01) fold, respectively. On the other hand, PAI-1 mRNA level was unchanged (1.02 ± 0.24 fold), while that of PAI-2 was significantly reduced to 0.34 ± 0.18 (p < 0.01) fold. Western blot experiments performed with protein extracts of three seminomas and normal tissues from the same patients showed that uPA protein levels were low or undetectable in normal tissues and induced in tumor tissues. On the same samples, zymographic analysis demonstrated increased uPA activity in tumor tissue extracts. Western blot experiments showed that also the uPAR protein was increased in tumor tissues by 1.83 ± 0.15 fold (p < 0.01). The increased expression of uPA and uPAR was further confirmed by immunohistochemical staining performed in 10 seminomas and autologous uninvolved peritumoral tissues. Finally, variation in the mRNA level of PAI-1 significantly correlated with tumor size.We demonstrated the increased expression of uPA and uPAR in human seminomas with respect to normal testis tissues, which may be relevant in testicular cancer progression.The term "germ cell tumors" refers to a heterogeneous group of neoplasms originating from cells belonging to the germ cell lineage [1-3]. They occur mainly in the gonad, but also in specific extragonadal sites along the migration route of primordial germ cells. In the human, testis germ cell tumors comprise three main entities characterized by different epidemiological, histological and clinical parameters. The first includes the teratomas-yolk sac tumors usually taking place during the first years of life; the second includes the testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) and consists of seminoma and non-seminoma can