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Localization of protein gene product 9.5 immunoreactivity in derivatives of the human Wolffian duct and in prostate cancer
Author(s) -
Aumüller G.,
Renneberg H.,
Leonhardt M.,
Lilja H.,
Abrahamsson PerAnders
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
the prostate
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.295
H-Index - 123
eISSN - 1097-0045
pISSN - 0270-4137
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0045(19990301)38:4<261::aid-pros1>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - mesonephric duct , biology , epididymis , chromogranin a , efferent ducts , ejaculatory duct , prostate , gene product , immunocytochemistry , pathology , immunohistochemistry , seminal vesicle , endocrinology , cancer , medicine , gene expression , gene , biochemistry , botany , genetics , immunology , sperm , kidney
BACKGROUND Protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) has been considered to be a neuronal marker, but it is also present in extraneuronal tissues, e.g., the human mammary gland and rat epididymis. Its presence and distribution in the developing and adult male human genital tract have been unknown. METHODS Immunohistochemical reactions were performed on human embryonic and postnatal specimens of the male genital tract, using commercial monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. RESULTS PGP 9.5 immunoreactivity was found in the Wolffian duct of human embryos (55–85 mm crown‐rump length). Strong reactivity was observed in mesonephric tubular cells and at the apical rim of Wolffian duct cells. Owing to their PGP 9.5 immunoreactivity, these cells could also be identified on the surface of the embryonic verumontanum, extending from the orifices of the Wolffian duct to a small stretch of the urogenital sinus. There they contrasted sharply against non‐Wolffian cells. In the adult human genital tract, PGP 9.5 immunoreactive material was present in the supranuclear portion of some epithelial cells of the epididymal efferent ductules, in isolated cells of the ejaculatory ducts, and in prostate cancer specimens. In the ejaculatory ducts, the PGP 9.5‐immunoreactive cells were free of immunoreactivity for semenogelin, the major secretory product of the ejaculatory‐vesicular‐ampullary complex, and they also lacked chromogranin A‐immunoreactivity. In prostate cancer specimens, PGP 9.5 immunoreactivity was never observed in secretory cells (immunoreactive for prostate‐specific antigen), but was restricted to neuroendocrine cells, where it occurred either alone or coexpressed with chromogranin A‐immunoreactivity. CONCLUSIONS PGP 9.5‐immunoreactivity is prenatally distributed in the Wolffian duct and its derivations; postnatally, it is restricted to a few cells derived from the initial and terminal segment of the Wolffian duct, and to neuroendocrine cells in prostate cancer specimens. Prostate 38:261–267, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.