Advances in sperm proteomics: best-practise methodology and clinical potential

The recent application of mass spectrometry to the study of the sperm cell has led to an unprecedented capacity for identification of sperm proteins in a variety of species. Knowledge of the proteins that make up the sperm cell represents the first step towards understanding its normal function and the molecular anomalies associated with male infertility. The present review starts with an introduction of the sperm cell biology and is followed by the consideration of the methodological key aspects to be aware of during sample sourcing and preparation, including data interpretation. It then overviews the initiatives developed so far towards the completion of the sperm proteome, with a particular focus in human but with the inclusion of some comments on different model species. Finally, all studies performing differential proteomics in infertile patients are reviewed, pointing to future potential applications.     

ROS-Induced JNK and p38 Signaling Is Required for Unpaired Cytokine Activation during Drosophila Regeneration

Upon apoptotic stimuli, epithelial cells compensate the gaps left by dead cells by activating proliferation. This has led to the proposal that dying cells signal to surrounding living cells to maintain homeostasis. Although the nature of these signals is not clear, reactive oxygen species (ROS) could act as a signaling mechanism as they can trigger pro-inflammatory responses to protect epithelia from environmental insults. Whether ROS emerge from dead cells and what is the genetic response triggered by ROS is pivotal to understand regeneration of Drosophila imaginal discs. We genetically induced cell death in wing imaginal discs, monitored the production of ROS and analyzed the signals required for repair. We found that cell death generates a burst of ROS that propagate to the nearby surviving cells. Propagated ROS activate p38 and induce tolerable levels of JNK. The activation of JNK and p38 results in the expression of the cytokines Unpaired (Upd), which triggers the JAK/STAT signaling pathway required for regeneration. Our findings demonstrate that this ROS/JNK/p38/Upd stress responsive module restores tissue homeostasis. This module is not only activated after cell death induction but also after physical damage and reveals one of the earliest responses for imaginal disc regeneration.     

Trisomy 8, a Cytogenetic Abnormality in Myelodysplastic Syndromes,Is Constitutional or Not?

Isolated trisomy 8 is not considered presumptive evidence of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in cases without minimal morphological criteria. One reason given is that trisomy 8 (+8) can be found as a constitutional mosaicism (cT8M). We tried to clarify the incidence of cT8M in myeloid neoplasms, specifically in MDS, and the diagnostic value of isolated +8 in MDS. Twenty-two MDS and 10 other myeloid neoplasms carrying +8 were studied. Trisomy 8 was determined in peripheral blood by conventional cytogenetics (CC) and on granulocytes, CD3+ lymphocytes and oral mucosa cells by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). In peripheral blood CC, +8 was seen in 4/32 patients. By FISH, only one patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia showed +8 in all cell samples and was interpreted as a cT8M. In our series +8 was acquired in all MDS. Probably, once discarded cT8M by FISH from CD3+ lymphocytes and non-hematological cells, +8 should be considered with enough evidence to MDS.     

Detection of Innate Immune Response Modulating Impurities in Therapeutic Proteins

Therapeutic proteins can contain multiple impurities, some of which are variants of the product, while others are derived from the cell substrate and the manufacturing process. Such impurities, even when present at trace levels, have the potential to activate innate immune cells in peripheral blood or embedded in tissues causing expression of cytokines and chemokines, increasing antigen uptake, facilitating processing and presentation by antigen presenting cells, and fostering product immunogenicity. Currently, while products are tested for host cell protein content, assays to control innate immune response modulating impurities (IIRMIs) in products are focused mainly on endotoxin and nucleic acids, however, depending on the cell substrate and the manufacturing process, numerous other IIRMI could be present. In these studies we assess two approaches that allow for the detection of a broader subset of IIRMIs. In the first, we use commercial cell lines transfected with Toll like receptors (TLR) to detect receptor-specific agonists. This method is sensitive to trace levels of IIRMI and provides information of the type of IIRMIs present but is limited by the availability of stably transfected cell lines and requires pre-existing knowledge of the IIRMIs likely to be present in the product. Alternatively, the use of a combination of macrophage cell lines of human and mouse origin allows for the detection of a broader spectrum of impurities, but does not identify the source of the activation. Importantly, for either system the lower limit of detection (LLOD) of impurities was similar to that of PBMC and it was not modified by the therapeutic protein tested, even in settings where the product had inherent immune modulatory properties. Together these data indicate that a cell-based assay approach could be used to screen products for the presence of IIRMIs and inform immunogenicity risk assessments, particularly in the context of comparability exercises.     

Prediction of Nociceptive Responses during Sedation by Linear and Non-Linear Measures of EEG Signals in High Frequencies

The level of sedation in patients undergoing medical procedures evolves continuously, affected by the interaction between the effect of the anesthetic and analgesic agents and the pain stimuli. The monitors of depth of anesthesia, based on the analysis of the electroencephalogram (EEG), have been progressively introduced into the daily practice to provide additional information about the state of the patient. However, the quantification of analgesia still remains an open problem. The purpose of this work is to improve the prediction of nociceptive responses with linear and non-linear measures calculated from EEG signal filtered in frequency bands higher than the traditional bands. Power spectral density and auto-mutual information function was applied in order to predict the presence or absence of the nociceptive responses to different stimuli during sedation in endoscopy procedure. The proposed measures exhibit better performances than the bispectral index (BIS). Values of prediction probability of P_k above 0.75 and percentages of sensitivity and specificity above 70% were achieved combining EEG measures from the traditional frequency bands and higher frequency bands.