MUC1, glycans and the cell surface barrier to embryo implantation in human

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. A11-A11
Author(s):  
J. D. Aplin
2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Aplin ◽  
M. Meseguer ◽  
C. Simon ◽  
M. E. Ortíz ◽  
H. Croxatto ◽  
...  

As it approaches the maternal surface, the attaching embryo encounters the epithelial glycocalyx, which contains the mucin, MUC1. A high density of MUC1 at the cell surface can inhibit cell adhesion. This raises the possibility of the existence of a uterine barrier to implantation that might allow maternal rejection of poorer quality embryos. To investigate the mechanism of implantation, human embryos were incubated with endometrial epithelial monolayers. Hatched blastocysts were found to attach readily to the epithelial surface. MUC1 was lost from epithelial cells beneath and near to the attached embryo, while normal expression persisted in neighbouring cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Tickner ◽  
Sophia Hawas ◽  
Makrina Totsika ◽  
Johanna J. Kenyon

AbstractIdentification of novel therapeutic targets is required for developing alternate strategies to treat infections caused by the extensively drug-resistant bacterial pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii. As capsular polysaccharide (CPS) is a prime virulence determinant required for evasion of host immune defenses, understanding the pathways for synthesis and assembly of this discrete cell-surface barrier is important. In this study, we assess cell-bound and cell-free CPS material from A. baumannii AB5075 wildtype and transposon library mutants and demonstrate that the Wzi outer membrane protein is required for the proper assembly of the CPS layer on the cell surface. Loss of Wzi resulted in an estimated 4.4-fold reduction in cell-associated CPS with a reciprocal increase in CPS material shed in the extracellular surrounds. Transmission electron microscopy revealed a disrupted CPS layer with sparse patches of CPS on the external face of the outer membrane when Wzi function was lost. However, this genotype did not have a significant effect on biofilm formation. Genetic analysis demonstrated that the wzi gene is ubiquitous in the species, though the nucleotide sequences were surprisingly diverse. Though divergence was not concomitant with variation at the CPS biosynthesis K locus, an association between wzi type and the first sugar of the CPS representing the base of the structure most likely to interact with Wzi was observed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Martinez-Martin

Pathogens have evolved unique mechanisms to breach the cell surface barrier and manipulate the host immune response to establish a productive infection. Proteins exposed to the extracellular environment, both cell surface-expressed receptors and secreted proteins, are essential targets for initial invasion and play key roles in pathogen recognition and subsequent immunoregulatory processes. The identification of the host and pathogen extracellular molecules and their interaction networks is fundamental to understanding tissue tropism and pathogenesis and to inform the development of therapeutic strategies. Nevertheless, the characterization of the proteins that function in the host-pathogen interface has been challenging, largely due to the technical challenges associated with detection of extracellular protein interactions. This review discusses available technologies for the high throughput study of extracellular protein interactions between pathogens and their hosts, with a focus on mammalian viruses and bacteria. Emerging work illustrates a rich landscape for extracellular host-pathogen interaction and points towards the evolution of multifunctional pathogen-encoded proteins. Further development and application of technologies for genome-wide identification of extracellular protein interactions will be important in deciphering functional host-pathogen interaction networks, laying the foundation for development of novel therapeutics.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 190 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Illera ◽  
P. Bermejo ◽  
J. Hernandez ◽  
A. Gonzalez ◽  
J.C. Illera

Cellular adhesion molecules are thought to be responsible in embryo attachment in human and animals. Blastocyst attachment to the lining of the mammalian uterus during early implantation involves the initial apposition of the trophoblast to the uterine epithelial surface. A number of cell surface molecules have been implicated in the initial attachment reaction between trophectoderm and maternal surface epithelium, these include heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF), trophinin, CD44, integrins and extra cellular matrix molecules such as osteopontin (OPN) each of which exhibit elevated levels of expression at the time of implantation. CD44 is a membrane glycoprotein that is present in a variety of isoforms and is considered to be the major cell surface receptor for hyaluronan. The aim of these work was to study the effect of CD44 on embryo implantation. The rabbit is potentially an excellent model for study of implantation because it is an obligate ovulator, and therefore pregnancy can be precisely timed. Adult New Zealand rabbit females (n=12) were naturally inseminated with a buck of proven fertility. The day of coitus was counted as ‘Day 0’ of pregnancy. To determine the effect of CD44 at the time of implantation, the animals were divided in three groups: group A (four animals): received 100μg of anti-CD44/mL in an intraperitoneal injection on day 4.5 of pregnancy; group B (four animals), via mid-ventral laparotomies on day 6.5 p.c animals received an injection of 20μg of anti-CD44 on the right horn (0.5mL each, from the ovarian end to the cervix). All these treatments were performed in the right horn. Each animal served as her own control with the left uterine horn receiving 0.5mL of saline. Group C (four animals): This was the control group; two animals received an injection of 2mL of saline and the other two received 0.5mL of saline in each uterine horn. Finally, each animal was sacrificed on Day 10 of the pregnancy, the uterus was removed, and the number of implants were counted in each uterine horn. In the group A: a mean of 4.5±0.47 s.e.m implants were found in the right and on the left side. In group B, a profound reduction in implantation sites was found with the anti-CD44 injected into the uterine horn, a mean of 0 implants in the right uterine horn compared with 3.5 implants on the left side P<0.0001. Group C showed 4.25 implants on the right horn and 5.5 on the left horn; no statistical differences were found. Conclusion: the intraperitoneal injection of the anti-CD44 slightly reduced the number of embryos implanted but this reduction was not statistically significant. Anti-CD44 injected intrauterine affected seriously the embryo survival at the time of implantation.


Author(s):  
D. James Morré ◽  
Charles E. Bracker ◽  
William J. VanDerWoude

Calcium ions in the concentration range 5-100 mM inhibit auxin-induced cell elongation and wall extensibility of plant stems. Inhibition of wall extensibility requires that the tissue be living; growth inhibition cannot be explained on the basis of cross-linking of carboxyl groups of cell wall uronides by calcium ions. In this study, ultrastructural evidence was sought for an interaction of calcium ions with some component other than the wall at the cell surface of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) hypocotyls.


Author(s):  
P. Bagavandoss ◽  
JoAnne S. Richards ◽  
A. Rees Midgley

During follicular development in the mammalian ovary, several functional changes occur in the granulosa cells in response to steroid hormones and gonadotropins (1,2). In particular, marked changes in the content of membrane-associated receptors for the gonadotropins have been observed (1).We report here scanning electron microscope observations of morphological changes that occur on the granulosa cell surface in response to the administration of estradiol, human follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH), and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).Immature female rats that were hypophysectcmized on day 24 of age were treated in the following manner. Group 1: control groups were injected once a day with 0.1 ml phosphate buffered saline (PBS) for 3 days; group 2: estradiol (1.5 mg/0.2 ml propylene glycol) once a day for 3 days; group 3: estradiol for 3 days followed by 2 days of hFSH (1 μg/0.1 ml) twice daily, group 4: same as in group 3; group 5: same as in group 3 with a final injection of hCG (5 IU/0.1 ml) on the fifth day.


Author(s):  
P. Trebbia ◽  
P. Ballongue ◽  
C. Colliex

An effective use of electron energy loss spectroscopy for chemical characterization of selected areas in the electron microscope can only be achieved with the development of quantitative measurements capabilities.The experimental assembly, which is sketched in Fig.l, has therefore been carried out. It comprises four main elements.The analytical transmission electron microscope is a conventional microscope fitted with a Castaing and Henry dispersive unit (magnetic prism and electrostatic mirror). Recent modifications include the improvement of the vacuum in the specimen chamber (below 10-6 torr) and the adaptation of a new electrostatic mirror.The detection system, similar to the one described by Hermann et al (1), is located in a separate chamber below the fluorescent screen which visualizes the energy loss spectrum. Variable apertures select the electrons, which have lost an energy AE within an energy window smaller than 1 eV, in front of a surface barrier solid state detector RTC BPY 52 100 S.Q. The saw tooth signal delivered by a charge sensitive preamplifier (decay time of 5.10-5 S) is amplified, shaped into a gaussian profile through an active filter and counted by a single channel analyser.


Author(s):  
Robert M. Glaeser ◽  
Thea B. Scott

The carbon-replica technique can be used to obtain information about cell-surface structure that cannot ordinarily be obtained by thin-section techniques. Mammalian erythrocytes have been studied by the replica technique and they appear to be characterized by a pebbly or “plaqued“ surface texture. The characteristic “particle” diameter is about 200 Å to 400 Å. We have now extended our observations on cell-surface structure to chicken and frog erythrocytes, which possess a broad range of cellular functions, and to normal rat lymphocytes and mouse ascites tumor cells, which are capable of cell division. In these experiments fresh cells were washed in Eagle's Minimum Essential Medium Salt Solution (for suspension cultures) and one volume of a 10% cell suspension was added to one volume of 2% OsO4 or 5% gluteraldehyde in 0.067 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.3. Carbon replicas were obtained by a technique similar to that employed by Glaeser et al. Figure 1 shows an electron micrograph of a carbon replica made from a chicken erythrocyte, and Figure 2 shows an enlarged portion of the same cell.


Author(s):  
Manfred E. Bayer

The first step in the infection of a bacterium by a virus consists of a collision between cell and bacteriophage. The presence of virus-specific receptors on the cell surface will trigger a number of events leading eventually to release of the phage nucleic acid. The execution of the various "steps" in the infection process varies from one virus-type to the other, depending on the anatomy of the virus. Small viruses like ØX 174 and MS2 adsorb directly with their capsid to the bacterial receptors, while other phages possess attachment organelles of varying complexity. In bacteriophages T3 (Fig. 1) and T7 the small conical processes of their heads point toward the adsorption site; a welldefined baseplate is attached to the head of P22; heads without baseplates are not infective.


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