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Immunoglobulin G Expression in Human Sperm and Possible Functional Significance.

ABSTRACT: Immunoglobulin G (IgG), the major molecule of the immune system, which was traditionally thought to be produced by differentiated B-lymphocytes, had recently been found in non-immune cells including spermatozoa of rabbit testis. To study if human sperms could produce IgG that might play a role in fertilization, we employed immunofluorescent staining, Western blot, in situ hybridization, RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) and immunoelectron microscope and found that human sperms were capable of synthesizing IgG. IgG protein and mRNA were detected in the cytoplasm, mainly the neck region of the sperm and IgG immunoreactivity was found to cover the entire sperm cell. The essential enzymes necessary for IgG synthesis and class switching, RAG1 (recombination activating gene 1), RAG2 (recombination activating gene 2) and AID (activation-induced cytidine deaminase), were also detected in the sperm cells. Furthermore, we found that anti-IgG antibody could inhibit sperm from penetrating Zona-free hamster egg with statistical significance. These discoveries suggested that immunoglobulin G could be produced by human sperms and it might play a role during fertilization.

SUBMITTER: Yan M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4735602 | biostudies-other | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Immunoglobulin G Expression in Human Sperm and Possible Functional Significance.

Yan Meiling M Zhang Xiaoyu X Pu Qinxue Q Huang Tao T Xie Qingdong Q Wang Yan Y Li Jing J Wang Yun Y Gu Huan H Huang Tianhua T Li Zhiling Z Gu Jiang J

Scientific reports 20160201

Immunoglobulin G (IgG), the major molecule of the immune system, which was traditionally thought to be produced by differentiated B-lymphocytes, had recently been found in non-immune cells including spermatozoa of rabbit testis. To study if human sperms could produce IgG that might play a role in fertilization, we employed immunofluorescent staining, Western blot, in situ hybridization, RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) and immunoelectron microscope and found that human sp ...[more]

PMID: 26833114

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Project description:BACKGROUND:High expression of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (PIGR) has previously been associated with a favourable prognosis in a few cancer forms, but its expression and relationship with clinical outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has not yet been reported. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the clinicopathological correlates and prognostic significance of PIGR expression in EOC. METHODS:After an initial screening in the Human Protein Atlas portal, a validated antibody was selected for extended analysis of immunohistochemical PIGR expression in tissue microarrays with tumours from 154 incident cases of EOC from two pooled prospective population-based cohorts. Subsets of corresponding benign-appearing fallopian tubes (n?=?38) and omental metastases (n?=?33) were also analysed. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis were applied to examine the impact of PIGR expression on overall survival (OS) and ovarian cancer-specific survival (OCSS). RESULTS:PIGR expression was significantly higher in fallopian tubes compared to primary tumours and metastases (p?<?0.001) and lower in carcinoma of the serous subtype compared to other carcinomas (p?<?0.001). PIGR expression was significantly associated with lower grade (p?=?0.001), mucinous histological subtype (p?=?0.002), positive progesterone receptor expression (p?=?0.009) and negative or low Ki-67 expression (p?=?0.003). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significantly improved OS (p?=?0.013) and OCSS (p?=?0.009) for patients with tumours displaying high expression of PIGR. These associations were confirmed in unadjusted Cox regression analysis (HR?=?0.48; 95% CI 0.26-0.87; p?=?0.015 for OS and HR?=?0.43, 95% CI 0.22-0.82; p?=?0.011 for OCSS) but did not remain significant after adjustment for age, grade and clinical stage. CONCLUSIONS:This study provides a first demonstration of PIGR expression in human fallopian tubes, primary EOC tumours and metastases. High tumour-specific expression of PIGR was found to be associated with a favourable prognosis in unadjusted, but not in adjusted, analysis. These findings are novel and merit further investigation.

Project description:INTRODUCTION: The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (PIGR) has been proposed to be a candidate prognostic biomarker in a few cancer forms, and one previous study reported that reduced PIGR expression signifies more aggressive tumours of the distal esophagus and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ). In the present study, we examined the expression, clinicopathological correlates and prognostic significance of PIGR expression in an extended cohort of adenocarcinoma of the upper gastrointestinal tract. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical PIGR expression was examined in a consecutive cohort of patients with surgically resected, radio-chemonaive adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, GE-junction and stomach (n?=?173), including paired samples of benign-appearing squamous epithelium (n?=?51), gastric mucosa (n?=?114), Barrett's esophagus (BE) or intestinal metaplasia (IM) (n?=?57) and lymph node metastases (n?=?75). Non-parametric tests were applied to explore associations between PIGR expression in primary tumours and clinicopathological characteristics. Classification and regression tree analysis was applied for selection of prognostic cut-off. The impact of PIGR expression on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis and hazard ratios (HR) calculated by adjusted and unadjusted Cox proportional hazards modelling. RESULTS: PIGR expression was significantly higher in intestinal metaplasia (BE or gastric IM) compared to normal tissues and cancer (p?<?0.001). Reduced PIGR expression in primary tumours was significantly associated with more advanced tumour stage (p?=?0.002) and inversely associated with involved margins (p?=?0.034). PIGR expression did not differ between primary tumours and lymph node metastases. There was no significant difference in PIGR expression between tumours with and without a background of intestinal metaplasia. High PIGR expression was an independent predictor of a prolonged OS (HR?=?0.60, 95% CI 0.36-0.99) and RFS (HR?=?0.49, 95% CI 0.27-0.90) in patients with radically resected (R0) primary tumours and of an improved RFS (HR?=?0.32, 95% CI 0.15-0.69) in curatively treated patients with R0 resection/distant metastasis-free disease. CONCLUSION: High PIGR expression independently predicts a decreased risk of recurrence and an improved survival in patients with adenocarcinoma of the upper gastrointestinal tract. These findings are of potential clinical relevance and merit further validation.

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Dataset Information

Immunoglobulin G Expression in Human Sperm and Possible Functional Significance.

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Immunoglobulin G Expression in Human Sperm and Possible Functional Significance.

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