Expression of splice variants of cancer-testis genes ODF3 and ODF4 in the testis of a prostate cancer patient.

The outer dense fiber (ODF) genes encode proteins that co-assemble along the axoneme of the sperm tail. Recently, it was demonstrated that some ODF genes are aberrantly expressed in tumors, including prostate adenocarcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and chronic myeloid lymphoma. We cloned ODF3 and ODF4 cDNA from the testis of a patient suffering from prostate adenocarcinoma and found two alternative splice variants of these genes.