- Title
- Sperm-specific proteins: new implications for diagnostic development and cancer immunotherapy
- Creator
- O'Donnell, Liza; Smith, Lee B.; Rebourcet, Diane
- Relation
- Current Opinion in Cell Biology Vol. 77, no. 102104
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2022.102104
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Spermatozoa are comprised of many unique proteins not expressed elsewhere. Sperm-specific proteins are first expressed at puberty, after the development of immune tolerance to self-antigens, and have been assumed to remain confined inside the seminiferous tubules, protected from immune cell recognition by various mechanisms of testicular immune privilege. However, new data has shown that sperm-specific proteins are released by the tubules into the surrounding interstitial fluid; from here they can contact immune cells, potentially promote immune tolerance, and enter the circulation. These new findings have clinical implications for diagnostics and therapeutics targeted at a specific class of proteins known as cancer-testis antigens (CTA), the opportunity to identify new communication pathways in the testis, and to discover new ways to monitor testis function.
- Subject
- humans; immunotherapy; male; neoplasms; semen; seminiferous tubules; SDG 3; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1488796
- Identifier
- uon:52539
- Identifier
- ISSN:0955-0674
- Rights
- © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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