The Mc4r gene is responsible for the development of experimentally induced testicular teratomas.

Teratomas in mice, composed of different tissue types, are derived from primordial germ cells in the fetal gonads. Previously, we identified a locus responsible for experimental testicular teratoma (ETT) formation on chromosome 18, referred to as ett1. The strongest candidate sequence in the ett1 locus was found to be a missense mutation in the melanocortin 4 receptor (Mc4r), Mc4rG25S. We established a strain with a point mutation in the Mc4r gene in the ETT-nonsusceptible LT strain, called LT- Mc4rG25S, by genome editing. Surprisingly, highly developed ovarian teratomas (OTs), rather than testicular teratomas, appeared in the LT-Mc4rG25S strain. The results demonstrated that Mc4r is also one of the genes responsible for OT formation and suggested that missense mutations in Mc4r promote teratoma formation in both sexes. In this study, we performed ETT experiments in different host-graft combinations of the LT-Mc4rG25S and LT strains. Furthermore, the expression of MC4R in germ cells in the testis was demonstrated. Expression of Mc4r in testis was also confirmed by RT-PCR. The results demonstrated that MC4R is expressed in germ cells in the testis and that a point mutation in the Mc4r gene is responsible for ETT formation.

MC4R mutant mice develop ovarian teratomas.

Teratomas in mice, composed of different tissue types, are derived from primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the foetal gonads. The strongest candidate gene in the testicular teratoma locus (Ter) responsible for testicular teratoma formation was identified as mutation in Dnd1, Dnd1R178*. However, the phenotype of mice with a mutated Dnd1 gene was germ cell loss. This suggests that other genes are involved in teratoma formation. Testicular teratomas can also be induced experimentally (experimentally testicular teratomas: ETTs) in 129/Sv mice by transplanting E12.5 foetal testes into adult testes. Previously, we mapped the ett1 locus, which is the locus responsible for ETT formation on chromosome 18. By exome sequence analysis of the 129 and LTXBJ (LT) strains, we identified a missense mutation in the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) gene among 8 genes in the ett1 region. The missense mutation causes a substitution of glycine 25 by serine. Thus, this gene is a candidate for ETT formation. We established the LT-ett1 congenic strain, which introduced the locus responsible for ETT formation genetically into the genomes of a testicular teratoma non-susceptible strain. In this study, we crossed LT-ett1 and a previously established LT-Ter strain to establish the double congenic strain LT-Ter-ett1. Also, we established a strain with a point mutation in the MC4R gene of the LT strain by genome editing, LT-MC4RG25S. Furthermore, double genetically modified strain LT-Ter-MC4RG25S was established to address the relation between Ter and MC4R. Surprisingly, highly developed ovarian teratomas (OTs), instead of testicular teratomas, appeared not only in the LT-Ter-MC4RG25S and LT-MC4RG25S strains but also in the LT-ett1 and LT-Ter-ett1 strains. The incidence of OT formation was high in double genetically modified strains. The results demonstrated that MC4R is one of the genes responsible for OT formation. It was suggested that the effect of the missense mutation in MC4R on teratoma formation was promoted by abnormal germ cell formation by the mutation in DND1.