Twist1-IRF9 Interaction Is Necessary for IFN-Stimulated Gene Anti-Zika Viral Infection.

An efficient immune defense against pathogens requires sufficient basal sensing mechanisms that can deliver prompt responses. Type I IFNs are protective against acute viral infections and respond to viral and bacterial infections, but their efficacy depends on constitutive basal activity that promotes the expression of downstream genes known as IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). Type I IFNs and ISGs are constitutively produced at low quantities and yet exert profound effects essential for numerous physiological processes beyond antiviral and antimicrobial defense, including immunomodulation, cell cycle regulation, cell survival, and cell differentiation.

Reducing oxidative stress by κ-carrageenan and C60HyFn: The post-thaw quality and antioxidant status of Azari water buffalo bull semen.

Azeri water buffalo is a species of great interest due to the high quality of its products such as milk. Due to the decreasing trend of its number and risk of extinction in the future, our attention is directed towards ensuring the preservation of its genetic reserves by keeping its sperm. Using antioxidants in semen extender is one of the ways to reduce the detrimental effects of freezing process on post-thawed quality of spermatozoa.

RNA Transcripts in Human Ovarian Cells: Two-Time Cryopreservation Does Not Affect Developmental Potential.

Sometimes, for medical reasons, when a frozen tissue has already thawed, an operation by re-transplantation may be cancelled, and ovarian tissues should be re-frozen for transplantation next time. Research about the repeated cryopreservation of ovarian cells is rarely reported. It has been published that there is no difference in the follicle densities, proportions of proliferation of early preantral follicles, appearance of atretic follicles, or ultrastructural quality of frozen-thawed and re-frozen-rethawed tissue.

Influence of Ovarian Status and Steroid Hormone Concentration on Day of Timed Artificial Insemination (TAI) on the Reproductive Performance of Dairy Cows Inseminated with Sexed Semen.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the ovarian status and steroid hormone concentration on the day of TAI on the reproductive performance of dairy cows subjected to estrus synchronization treatment and timed artificial insemination with sexed semen. Seventy-eight cyclic Holstein cows pre-treated with PGF2α-GnRH were divided in two groups-I (Preselect-OvSynch, = 38) and II (OvSynch+PRID-7-day+eCG, = 40)-and inseminated with sexed semen. The presence of preovulatory follicle (PF) with or without corpus luteum (CL), the PF diameter, the estradiol (E) and progesterone (P) concentrations on the day of TAI, the pregnancy rate (PR) and embryo loss were determined.

Decreased ratio of FOXP3/FOXP3CD45RACD4 T cells in peripheral blood is associated with unexplained infertility and ART failure.

Unexplained infertility has a huge social impact and is a significant challenge for both clinicians and researchers. Previous studies have shown the involvement of multiple factors in infertility. Among these, the subset of regulatory T cells is of particular interest for the maternal tolerance towards the semi-allogenic fetus.

A sustained decrease in serum CD83 in pregnant women.

Maternal immunity regulates tolerance to the semi-allogeneic fetus during pregnancy via modulation of immune regulatory factors. The serum factor CD83 is known to undergo changes during gestation in mice. Here we characterize serum levels of CD83 in women for the first time, revealing a consistent decline as pregnancy progresses and recovery to non-pregnant levels in miscarriage.

Correlation between Cytogenetic Findings and Spermatogenic Failure in Bulgarian Infertile Men.

The aim of our study was to determine the type and frequency of chromosomal aberrations and polymorphisms in men with different degrees of spermatogenic failure in comparison to men with normozoospermia, in order to find correlations between cytogenetic findings and the abnormal results of semen analysis. In our study, we performed cytogenetic analysis in 901 infertile men, divided into five groups according to semen analysis-normozoospermia (86), asthenozoospermia (394), oligoasthenozoospermia (182), severe male factor (100), and azoospermia (139). The frequency of polymorphisms was similar in all groups (11-16%, without significant differences).

Placentа of BCG-Vaccinated Women in early Pregnancy is Colonized with Non-Immunogenic Mycobacterial L-forms.

Problem: Long-lived mycobacterial L-forms (mL-forms) could be detected in the blood of BCG-vaccinated people. We have previously found mL-forms in term placentas and blood of neonates, delivered by healthy BCG-vaccinated mothers as first formal demonstration that BCG vaccination in the childhood of the woman could affect her placentobiome during pregnancy. Of note, the isolated mL-forms reverted to the cell-walled state of the parental BCG bacilli in vitro.

Human decidual gamma/delta T cells possess unique effector and TCR repertoire profiles during pregnancy.

Human γδ T cells are enriched at the maternal-fetal interface (MFI, decidua basalis) showing a highly differentiated phenotype. However, their functional potential is not well-known and it is not clear whether this decidua-enrichment is associated with specific γδ T cell receptors (TCR) as is observed in mice. Here we addressed these open questions by investigating decidual γδ T cells during early and late gestation, in comparison with paired blood samples, with flow cytometry (cytotoxic mediators, cytokines) and TCR high-throughput sequencing.

Proteomics Evidence of a Systemic Response to Desiccation in the Resurrection Plant .

Global warming and drought stress are expected to have a negative impact on agricultural productivity. Desiccation-tolerant species, which are able to tolerate the almost complete desiccation of their vegetative tissues, are appropriate models to study extreme drought tolerance and identify novel approaches to improve the resistance of crops to drought stress. In the present study, to better understand what makes resurrection plants extremely tolerant to drought, we performed transmission electron microscopy and integrative large-scale proteomics, including organellar and phosphorylation proteomics, and combined these investigations with previously published transcriptomic and metabolomics data from the resurrection plant .

Epigenetic Alterations in Cryopreserved Human Spermatozoa: Suspected Potential Functional Defects.

Background: Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted on raw data, and alternative splicing (AS) events were found after mRNA sequencing of human spermatozoa. In this study, we aimed to compare unknown micro-epigenetics alternations in fresh and cryopreserved spermatozoa to evaluate the effectivity of cryopreservation protocols.

Methods: Spermatozoa were divided into three groups: fresh spermatozoa (group 1), cryoprotectant-free vitrified spermatozoa (group 2), and conventionally frozen spermatozoa (group 3).

Evaluation of Soluble CD90: Potential for Diagnostic Significance in Endometriosis Patients.

Background: Endometriosis is a chronic and debilitating gynecologic disorder, driven by endocrine and immune dysfunctions, which lead to poor endometrial differentiation and attenuated fertility. Escape from immune surveillance and involvement of inflammatory mechanisms appear to be factors in disease progression. Current diagnostic guidelines for endometriosis still lack an efficient biomarker.

Functional HLA-C expressing trophoblast spheroids as a model to study placental-maternal immune interactions during human implantation.

In healthy couples over half of the conceptions result in failed pregnancy and around 30% of them occur during implantation defining it as a rate-limiting step for the success of native and in vitro fertilization. The understanding of the factors regulating each step of implantation and immune recognition is critical for the pregnancy outcome. Creation of 3D-cell culture models, such as spheroids and organoids, is in the focus of placental tissue engineering in attempt to resemble the in vivo complexity of the maternal-fetal interface and to overcome the need of laboratory animals and human embryos.

Immunity at maternal-fetal interface: KIR/HLA (Allo)recognition.

Both KIR and HLA are the most variable gene families in the human genome. The recognition of the semi-allogeneic embryo-derived trophoblasts by maternal decidual NK (dNK) cells is essential for the establishment of the functional placenta. This recognition is based on the KIR-HLA interactions and trophoblast expresses a specific HLA profile that constitutes classical polymorphic HLA-C and non-classical oligomorphic HLA-E, HLA-F, and HLA-G molecules.

Restriction of the Global IgM Repertoire in Antiphospholipid Syndrome.

The typical anti-phospholipid antibodies (APLA) in the anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS) are reactive with the phospholipid-binding protein β2GPI as well as a growing list of other protein targets. The relation of APLA to natural antibodies and the fuzzy set of autoantigens involved provoked us to study the changes in the IgM repertoire in APS. To this end, peptides selected by serum IgM from a 7-residue linear peptide phage display library (PDL) were deep sequenced.

Addition of seminal plasma proteins effecting the kinetic properties of canine spermatozoa.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the changes in the motility and kinetic patterns of canine spermatozoa, capacitated and decapacitated, after the addition of seminal plasma protein fractions with different molecular weight. It has been proposed that proteins in seminal plasma support the survival of the spermatozoa and exert a dual effect: capacitation and decapacitation. The seminal plasma from fresh ejaculates was subjected to chromatographic separation and four protein fractions were obtained.

Cryoprotectants-Free Vitrification and Conventional Freezing of Human Spermatozoa: A Comparative Transcript Profiling.

Introduction: Spermatozoa cryopreservation is an important technique to preserve fertility for males. This study aimed at exploring the stability of epigenetics information in human spermatozoa, manipulated by two different technologies, freezing and vitrification.

Methods: Spermatozoa samples were distributed into three groups: 1.

Effect of prooxidants and chelator Desferal on the oxidative status and sperm motility of Muscovy semen.

This study aimed to establish the sensitivity of Muscovy duck semen to oxidative stress (OS) and the effect of Desferal, applied as an antioxidant. The effect of three prooxidant systems in presence and absence of Desferal were tested on the motility and kinetic parameters (determined using CASA system), as well as the level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and glutathione (tGSH) of Muscovy semen. The semen was diluted (1:3 v/v) with four extenders (saline solution, IMV Canadyl, HIA-1, and AU) and stored at 4 °C for 6 h.

Endothelial inflammation and dysfunction in COVID-19.

The biggest challenge in the COVID-19 pandemic besides the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is to reduce mortality rates. As the number of cases continues to rise and new variants, some with at least partial resistance to vaccines, emerge, the need for better understanding of the underlying pathology of the disease and for improved therapeutic strategies grows urgently. The endothelium is a main target of most viral infections in the body.

A study of the transformation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells by interferon-gamma.

Objectives: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exist in almost all tissues. Their unique nature is completed by their immunomodulatory functions, holding promise for the treatment of many diseases. An inflammatory environment precedes the immunosuppressive abilities of MSCs and this study was intended to better understand how umbilical cord MSCs (UCMSCs) react to the process of inflammation, regarding their basic characteristics and behavior when primed with the key pro-inflammatory cytokine, Interferon-γ (IFNγ).

Localization and Distribution of Testicular Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme (ACE) in Neck and Mid-Piece of Spermatozoa from Infertile Men in Relation to Sperm Motility.

Testicular angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is known to play an essential role in the male reproduction and fertility. Data about tACE in cases of male infertility are quite scarce, and in this respect we aimed to study localization and distribution of tACE protein in the neck and mid-piece of spermatozoa from pathological samples in relation to sperm motility. The enzyme expression during capacitation and acrosome reaction was quantitatively assessed.

New method for cryoprotectant-free freezing of human oligoasthenoteratozoospremic spermatozoa with high-molecular polymer.

Data about cryoprotectant-free cryopreservation of human ICSI spermatozoa are limited. The aim of this investigation was to compare two technologies for cryopreservation of spermatozoa from men with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia: standard conventional freezing with 5% glycerol (freezing in glycerol) and cryoprotectant-free freezing with 5% high-molecular-weight (360 kDa) polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (PVP-freezing). Capillaries with spermatozoa were cooled in vapor and then plunginged into liquid nitrogen.