Sertoli cells, can function as non-professional tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells and sustain the blood-testis barrier formed by their tight junctions. The NOD-like receptor family members and the NALP3 inflammasome play a key role in pro-inflammatory innate immunity signalling pathways. Limited data exist on NOD1 and NOD2 expression in human and mouse Sertoli cells. Currently, there is no data on inflammasome expression or function in Sertoli cells. We found that in primary pre-pubertal Sertoli cells and in adult Sertoli line, TLR4\NOD1 and NOD2 crosstalk converged in NFκB activation and elicited a NALP3 activation, leading tode novosynthesis and inflammasome priming. This led to caspase-1 activation and IL-1β secretion. We demonstrated this process was controlled by mechanisms linked to autophagy. NOD1 promoted pro-IL-1β restriction and autophagosome maturation arrest, while NOD2 promoted caspase-1 activation, IL-1β secretion and autophagy maturation. NALP3 modulated NOD1 and pro-IL-1β expression, while NOD2 inversely promoted IL-1β. This study is proof of concept that Sertoli cells, upon specific stimulation, could participate in male infertility pathogenesis via inflammatory cytokine induction.

Endogenous PIF, upon which embryo development is dependent, is secreted only by viable mammalian embryos, and absent in non-viable ones. Synthetic PIF (sPIF) administration promotes singly cultured embryos development and protects against their demise caused by embryo-toxic serum. To identify and characterize critical sPIF-embryo protein interactions novel biochemical and bio-analytical methods were specifically devised. FITC-PIF uptake/binding by cultured murine and equine embryos was examined and compared with scrambled FITC-PIF (control). Murine embryo (d10) lysates were fractionated by reversed-phase HPLC, fractions printed onto microarray slides and probed with Biotin-PIF, IDE and Kv1.3 antibodies, using fluorescence detection. sPIF-based affinity column was developed to extract and identify PIF-protein interactions from lysates using peptide mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). In silico evaluation examined binding of PIF to critical targets, using mutation analysis. PIF directly targets viable cultured embryos as compared with control peptide, which failed to bind. Multistep Biotin-PIF targets were confirmed by single-step PIF-affinity column based isolation. PIF binds protein disulfide isomerases a prolyl-4-hydroxylase β-subunit, (PDI, PDIA4, PDIA6-like) containing the antioxidant thioredoxin domain. PIF also binds protective heat shock proteins (70&90), co-chaperone, BAG-3. Remarkably, PIF targets a common RIPK site in PDI and HSP proteins. Further, single PIF amino acid mutation significantly reduced peptide-protein target bonding. PIF binds promiscuous tubulins, neuron backbones and ACTA-1,2 visceral proteins. Significant anti-IDE, while limited anti-Kv1.3b antibody-binding to Biotin-PIF positive lysates HPLC fractions were documented. Collectively, data identifies PIF shared targets on PDI and HSP in the embryo. Such are known to play a critical role in protecting against oxidative stress and protein misfolding. PIF-affinity-column is a novel utilitarian method for small molecule targets direct identification. Data reveals and completes the understanding of mechanisms involved in PIF-induced autotrophic and protective effects on the embryo.

PreImplantation factor (PIF) is a 15-amino acid peptide endogenously secreted by viable embryos, regulating/enabling maternal (host) acceptance/tolerance to the “invading” embryo (allograft) all-while preserving maternal immunity to fight infections. Such attributes make PIF a potential therapeutic agent for chronic inflammatory diseases. We investigated whether PIF’s immunomodulatory properties prevent progression of atherosclerosis in the hyper-cholesterolaemic ApoEdeficient murine model. Male, high-fat diet fed, ApoE-deficient (ApoE^-/-) mice were administered either PBS, scrambled PIF (0.3–3 mg/kg) or PIF (0.3–3 mg/kg) for seven weeks. After treatment, PIF (3 mg/kg)-treated ApoE^-/- mice displayed significantly reduced atherosclerosis lesion burden in the aortic sinus and aortic arch, without any effect on lipid profile. PIF also caused a significant reduction in infiltration of macrophages, decreased expression of pro-inflammatory adhesion molecules, cytokines and chemokines in the plaque, and reduced circulating IFN-γ levels. PIF preferentially binds to monocytes/neutrophils. In vitro, PIF attenuated monocyte migration (MCP-1-induced chemotaxis assay) and in vivo in LPS peritonitis model. Also PIF prevented leukocyte extravasation (peritonitis thioglycollate-induced model), demonstrating that PIF exerts its effect in part by modulation of monocyte function. Inhibition of the potassium channel KCNAB3 (Kv1.3) and of the insulin degrading enzyme (IDE) was demonstrated as potential mechanism of PIF’s immunomodulatory effects. In conclusion, PIF regulates/lowers inflammation and prevents atherosclerosis development without affecting circulating lipids. Overall our findings establish PIF as a strong immunomodulatory drug candidate for atherosclerosis therapy. Supplementary Material to this article is available online at www.thrombosis-online.com.

Almost all transcribed human genes undergo alternative RNA splicing, which increases the diversity of the coding and non-coding cellular landscape. The resultant gene products might have distinctly different and, in some cases, even opposite functions. Therefore, the abnormal regulation of alternative splicing plays a crucial role in malignant transformation, development, and progression, a fact supported by the distinct splicing profiles identified in both healthy and tumor cells. Drug resistance, resulting in treatment failure, still remains a major challenge for current cancer therapy. Furthermore, tumor cells often take advantage of aberrant RNA splicing to overcome the toxicity of the administered chemotherapeutic agents. Thus, deciphering the alternative RNA splicing variants in tumor cells would provide opportunities for designing novel therapeutics combating cancer more efficiently. In the present review, we provide a comprehensive outline of the recent findings in alternative splicing in the most common neoplasms, including lung, breast, prostate, head and neck, glioma, colon, and blood malignancies. Molecular mechanisms developed by cancer cells to promote oncogenesis as well as to evade anticancer drug treatment and the subsequent chemotherapy failure are also discussed. Taken together, these findings offer novel opportunities for future studies and the development of targeted therapy for cancer-specific splicing variants.