Expression of OCT4 stem cell marker in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic carcinoma in a sample of Iraqi patients

Abstract

Objective: Prostatic diseases (benign and malignant) are broadly widespread in the world. Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a chronic entity reflected by enlarged prostatic tissue, triggering inferior urinary tract complaints. On the other hand, prostate cancer, is the second most common cancer in men and the fourth utmost commonly happening cancer generally. OCT4 referred to as octamer binding transcription factor 4, also recognized as POU5F1 (POU domain class 5 transcription factor 1), is a protein that in humans is coded by the POU5F1 gene. This protein is analytically elaborate in the self-renewal of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells. As such, our work is designed to evaluate the immunohistochemical examination of OCT4 expression in the prostatic epithelium in cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and in the epithelium of prostatic adenocarcinoma microenvironment (NPCA). Patients and Methods: The prostate samples were acquired from 50 BPH patients, and 50 prostatic cancer patients. The samples were managed for immunohistochemical examination of OCT4 expression. Results: Statistical analysis revealed significant difference in the staining percentage between the BPH and NPCA group (P-value=0.009), and there was significant staining expression of OCT4 in NPCA group as compared to BPH group (P-value=0.000). Also, there was significant elevation of the total score of OCT4 in NPCA group (P-value=0.036) as compared with BPH group. Conclusions: OCT4 is over expressed in normal tissue around prostatic carcinoma as compared to benign tissue in BPH, and thus OCT4 can be used as a stem cell marker for prostatic tissue tuomorigenicity.

The protective role of adiponectin in restoring spermatogenesis in mice fed on methionine-choline deficient diet

“…The positive cells were evaluated for their intensity of immune reactivity in a scale from 0 to 3+. The indices were obtained by multiplying the percentage of positive cells by the intensity of immune reactivity (16). The stain intensity score was given as 0 (no staining), 1+ (weak staining), 2+ (moderate staining), 3+ (strong staining).…”

Adiponectin and the expression of BAX and caspase 3 in high-fructose - induced testicular injury in albino mice

“…The stained slides were observed using a microscope at both low (10x) or high power (40x) to determine regions with highest staining. For each slide five fields were evaluated and scored semi quantitatively, the proportion of positive staining cells over the cells examined (%) (Total number of cells) were calculated and samples were classified according to the extent and intensity of staining (14). The score was calculated by multiplying the cells percentage with the intensity of staining.…”

The Concept of “Cancer Stem Cells” in the Context of Classic Carcinogenesis Hypotheses and Experimental Findings

“…However, do they share some common markers that make them a cancer stem cell? As pointed out previously, if the cancer stem cell is derived from a normal organ-specific adult stem cell, and if one marker, namely, the Oct4A gene, is shared by all cancer stem cells, as seems to be indicated by many published papers [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77], then it would seem that some strategy should be developed to find ways to either shut down this gene in order to force the cells to differentiate or apoptose. In addition, if the connexin genes and functional gap junctions are not found in either the normal stem cells or cancer stem cells, agents that might induce the connexin genes to be expressed could induce either differentiation or apoptosis.…”