Stem cell markers, OCT3/4, and more recently SOX2 and growth differentiation factor 3 (GDF3), have been reported to be expressed variably in germ cell tumors.
Notably, human STELLAR is located distal to a previously uncharacterized homeobox gene, which is the human homolog of the recently identified murine gene, Nanog, and proximal to the GDF3 locus, whose transcription is restricted to germ cell tumor cells.