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Intermitochondrial cement (nuage) in a spermatocytic seminoma: comparison with classical seminoma and normal testis

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Abstract

The nuage, an ultrastructural marker of normal human germ cells (spermatogonia type A and primary spermatocytes), may be found associated with mitochondria (intermitochondrial cement) and/or free in the cytoplasm. Eight specimens from germ cell-related tumours were reviewed to assess whether the nuage could have diagnostic significance in testicular neoplasms. The nuage of neoplastic cells from seven classical seminomas and one spermatocytic seminoma was compared with that from two normal testes. The ultrastructural study demonstrated that only spermatocytic seminoma cells contained both types of nuage and that significantly fewer spermatocytic seminoma cells (28%) contained intermitochondrial cement compared with control spermatogonia type A (81.1%) and primary spermatocytes (47.6%). The data indicate that (1) the detection of the nuage confirms that the phenotype of spermatocytic seminoma is more differentiated than that of classical seminoma; (2) the intermitochondrial cement is an additional example of how a distinctive organelle of a normal cell is preserved in its neoplastic counterpart and (3) if the intermitochondrial cement were found in other cases of spermatocytic seminoma, this organelle of the normal germ cell lineage could be considered as a new ultrastructural marker of the neoplasm.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Drs. Mariella Marelli, Maria Cristina Zingaretti and Camilla Latini for their excellent technical assistance. We are also grateful to Prof. Giorgio Barbatelli for his help in selecting the control testes and Dr. Michele Bisceglia (Dept. Pathology, IRRCCS-CSS Hospital, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy) for his critical reading and comments on the manuscript. The study was supported by a Polytechnic University of Marche grant (2007 FAR, formerly 60%) to M. M.

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The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Normal Human Morphology, School of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy

    Manrico Morroni & Daniela Marzioni

  2. Electron Microscopy Unit, University Hospital, Ancona, Italy

    Manrico Morroni & Angela Maria Cangiotti

  3. Department of Pathological Anatomy and Histopathology, General Hospital, Ascoli Piceno, Italy

    Antonella D’Angelo

  4. Center of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy

    Rosaria Gesuita

  5. Department of Pathological Anatomy and Histopathology, School of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy

    Michele De Nictolis

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  1. Manrico Morroni
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  2. Angela Maria Cangiotti
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  3. Daniela Marzioni
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Correspondence to Manrico Morroni.

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Morroni, M., Cangiotti, A.M., Marzioni, D. et al. Intermitochondrial cement (nuage) in a spermatocytic seminoma: comparison with classical seminoma and normal testis. Virchows Arch 453, 189–196 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-008-0610-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-008-0610-0

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