ANALYSIS OF PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL STATE OF TESTICULAR TISSUE AND SPERM IN PATIENTS WITH TESTICULAR GERM CELL TUMOR

Testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) represents a common solid tumor, being a relatively frequent cause of cancer-related death and presenting a significant burden in terms of morbidity and mortality in the population of men in reproductive age. Here we focused on analysis of testicular tissue using histopatholo­gy and state-of-the-art methodology such as respirometry and 2-photon microscopy. He­matoxylin-eosin-stained histopathological tis­sue of TGCT patients confirmed the presence of the tumor and broad-spectrum pathogeni­city and severity of the tumors. To understand the metabolic changes in tumor tissues of tes­ticular cancer patients on cellular level, oxy­gen consumption by complex I and complex II was evaluated, and we found that CI-depen­dent respiration via complex I in tumor tissue is higher than in normal tissue, and this was also observed for complex II. We further performed 2-photon FLIM to assess NAD(P)H lifetime. This revealed high heterogeneity in the TGCT tissue for NAD(P)H, where 5 unique lifetimes appeared, ranging between 0–5 ns, indicating differences in CI-dependent respiration. In pa­rallel, sperm physiology was analysed for acro­some integrity using PNA staining and sperm motility by Computer Assisted Sperm Analysis (CASA), showing impaired sperm function. The overall results indicate altered mitochondrial activity in testicular cancer tissue and sperm compared to non-malignant tissue and healthy donors, pointing to potential use of mitochon­drial markers as a diagnostic tool in reprodu­ctive activity.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by project NU20-03-0030, IBT RVO 86652036, and BIOCEV (CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0109). Special thanks to Attila Juhász, Phenotyping Module, Institute of Molecular Genetics, CAS; Ing. Dali­bor Panek, Ph.D., Imaging methods core facility at BIOCEV.

Prezentace ke stažení

• RNDr. Kateřina Komrsková, Ph.D. – ANALYSIS OF PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL STATE OF TESTICULAR TISSUE AND SPERM IN PATIENTS WITH TESTICULAR GERM CELL TUMOR