Identification of germ cell-specific VASA and IFITM3 proteins in human ovarian endometriosis

Nicolas A Fraunhoffer, Nicolás A. Fraunhoffer, Analía Meilerman Abuelafia, Inés Stella, Silvia Galliano, Marcela Barrios, Alfredo Daniel Vitullo, Alfredo D Vitullo
Journal of ovarian research · 2015 · vol. 8(1) , pp. 66 · doi:10.1186/s13048-015-0193-8 · PMID:26446766 · PMC4597381 · W2129798547
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 7 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study identified germ cell-specific VASA and IFITM3 proteins in ovarian endometriotic cysts, co-localizing with stem cell and proliferation markers, suggesting ovarian-sourced cells in endometriosis.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study examined human ovarian endometriosis specimens (n=10) and matched normal endometrial tissues (n=4) to determine whether germ line stem cell markers could be detected within endometriotic lesions, using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence/co-localization, and RT-PCR. The authors found that DDX4 (VASA) and IFITM3 were expressed in isolated cells and small clusters in the cortical region of ovarian endometriotic cysts, with co-localization in endometriotic stroma and positivity of DDX4/IFITM3-expressing cells for ESR1, OCT4, and PCNA. They report that no cells expressing neither DDX4 nor IFITM3 were detected in normal endometrial tissue, but also note that hemorrhagic debris and unspecific precipitates complicated interpretation during IHC screening. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it identifies germ cell-specific VASA/DDX4 and IFITM3 proteins in ovarian endometriotic lesions and links them to stemness and proliferation markers.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a gynaecological disorder that affects 6-10 % of female population. It is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus, most often in the pelvic peritoneum or ovaries. Recent studies have indicated that mesenchymal endometrial stem cells might get involved in endometriosis progression. Although germ line stem cells have been proved to exist in the ovary, their involvement in ovarian endometriosis has not been investigated. In this preliminary report we aimed to identify germinal stem cell markers in ovarian endometriosis. FINDINGS: Ten paraffin-embedded ovarian endometriosis samples were screened for germ cell-specific proteins DDX4 (VASA) and IFITM3, and its relation with stem cell marker OCT4, proliferation marker PCNA and estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1), by immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and PCR. DDX4 and IFITM3 proteins were expressed in isolated cells and clusters of cells in the cortical region of ovarian endometriotic cysts. DDX4 and IFITM3 co-localized in cells from endometriotic stroma, and DDX4/IFITM3-expressing cells were positive for ESR1, OCT4 and PCNA. No cells expressing neither DDX4 nor IFITM3 were detected in normal endometrial tissue. CONCLUSION: The identification of germ cell-specific proteins DDX4 and IFITM3 provides the first evidence of ovarian-sourced cells in ovarian endometriotic lesions and opens up new directions towards understanding the still confusing pathogenesis of endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

DEAD-box RNA Helicases Endometriosis Membrane Proteins Ovarian Neoplasms RNA-Binding Proteins Adolescent Adult Biomarkers, Tumor Biomarkers, Tumor DEAD-box RNA Helicases Endometriosis Female Germ Cells Germ Cells Humans Membrane Proteins Middle Aged Ovarian Neoplasms RNA-Binding Proteins Stem Cells

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (33)

Cited by (7)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-13T06:22:48.782012+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:17:39.907309+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK