Immunogenicity of human spermatozoa

Investigation and experimental design of the study was basically aimed at developing insight into the antigenicity of spermatozoa-associated proteins. Apart from studying the natural antigenicity of washed whole spermatozoa, their immunogenicity was also demonstrated _in vitro_. The whole live spermatozoa were immobilized and agglutinated _in vitro_ by the antibodies they induced in the laboratory model - a female rabbit. A regular immunization routine induced a high titre of antisperm polyclonal antibodies. To prepare a spermatozoa specific antigen which will not produce a cross-reacting antibody against other human tissues, only the motile and live spermatozoa were selected for antigen preparation. In investigation the laboratory-bred female rabbits were used as the bioactive system of production of antisperm antibody. Agglutination of whole spermatozoa has been observed on slides. The technique though simple is highly eloquent; clumping of spermatozoa confirms the existence of antisperm antibodies in the serum under examination. The results show that nature and pattern of immobilization of active motile spermatozoa are different as observed in different graphs of immobilization. The variation in spermatozoal population in antigen distribution on individual spermatozoa is reflected in different patterns of agglutination

Application of ImageJ for processing Shilajit exposed PBMC images

Objective: In this study, application of ImageJ for processing Shilajit exposed PBMC images were studied. Methods: In present study experiment was designed with human PBMC treated with Shilajit in high concentration (18mg/ml).Digital images were taken after one hour exposure with Shilajit and image processing steps were implemented. Results: Acquired images from Shilajit exposed human PBMC had low contrast and substantial background noise as media was mixed with Shilajit. So images were processed by adjusting brightness and contrast, applying median filter, thresholding and watershed algorithm. Conclusion: A high concentration of shilajit (18mg/ml) was detrimental to human PBMC. ImageJ can be efficiently used to process and extract information from low resolution images. Keywords: ImageJ, Shilajit, PBM

A Comparison of Machine Learning Models for Survival Prediction of Patients with Glioma Using Radiomic Features from MRI Scans

Background Glioma is a primary, malignant, highly aggressive brain tumor, with patients having an average life expectancy of 14 to 16 months after diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of these patients can be used to extract and analyze quantifiable features with potential clinical significance. We hypothesize that there is a correlation between radiomic features extracted from MRI scans and survival. Along with clinical data, the radiomic features could be used in survival prediction of patients, providing beneficial information for clinicians to design personalized treatment plans. Methods In our study, we have utilized 3D Slicer for tumor segmentation and feature extraction and performed survival prediction of patients with glioma using four different machine learning models. Results and Conclusion Among the models compared, we have achieved a maximum prediction accuracy of 64.4% using the k-nearest neighbors model, which was trained and tested on a combination of clinical data and radiomic features extracted from MRI images provided in the BraTS 2020 dataset

Structural basis for the function of anti-idiotypic antibody in immune memory

We had earlier proposed a hypothesis to explain the mechanism of perpetuation of immunological memory based on the operation of idiotypic network in the complete absence of antigen. Experimental evidences were provided for memory maintenance through anti-idiotypic antibody (Ab(2)) carrying the internal image of the antigen. In the present work, we describe a structural basis for such memory perpetuation by molecular modeling and structural analysis studies. A three-dimensional model of Ab(2) was generated and the structure of the antigenic site on the hemagglutinin protein H of Rinderpest virus was modeled using the structural template of hemagglutinin protein of Measles virus. Our results show that a large portion of heavy chain containing the CDR regions of Ab(2) resembles the domain of the hemagglutinin housing the epitope regions. The similarity demonstrates that an internal image of the H antigen is formed in Ab(2), which provides a structural basis for functional mimicry demonstrated earlier. This work brings out the importance of the structural similarity between a domain of hemagglutinin protein to that of its corresponding Ab(2). It provides evidence that Ab(2) is indeed capable of functioning as surrogate antigen and provides support to earlier proposed relay hypothesis which has provided a mechanism for the maintenance of immunological memory

Structural basis for the function of anti-idiotypic antibody in immune memory

We had earlier proposed a hypothesis to explain the mechanism of perpetuation of immunological memory based on the operation of idiotypic network in the complete absence of antigen. Experimental evidences were provided for memory maintenance through anti-idiotypic antibody (Ab2) carrying the internal image of the antigen. In the present work, we describe a structural basis for such memory perpetuation by molecular modeling and structural analysis studies. A three-dimensional model of Ab2 was generated and the structure of the antigenic site on the hemagglutinin protein H of Rinderpest virus was modeled using the structural template of hemagglutinin protein of Measles virus. Our results show that a large portion of heavy chain containing the CDR regions of Ab2 resembles the domain of the hemagglutinin housing the epitope regions. The similarity demonstrates that an internal image of the H antigen is formed in Ab2, which provides a structural basis for functional mimicry demonstrated earlier. This work brings out the importance of the structural similarity between a domain of hemagglutinin protein to that of its corresponding Ab2. It provides evidence that Ab2 is indeed capable of functioning as surrogate antigen and provides support to earlier proposed relay hypothesis which has provided a mechanism for the maintenance of immunological memory

Structural basis for the function of anti-idiotypic antibody in immune memory

We had earlier proposed a hypothesis to explain the mechanism of perpetuation of immunological memory based on the operation of idiotypic network in the complete absence of antigen. Experimental evidences were provided for memory maintenance through anti-idiotypic antibody (Ab<SUB>2</SUB>) carrying the internal image of the antigen. In the present work, we describe a structural basis for such memory perpetuation by molecular modeling and structural analysis studies. A three-dimensional model of Ab<SUB>2</SUB> was generated and the structure of the antigenic site on the hemagglutinin protein H of Rinderpest virus was modeled using the structural template of hemagglutinin protein of Measles virus. Our results show that a large portion of heavy chain containing the CDR regions of Ab<SUB>2</SUB> resembles the domain of the hemagglutinin housing the epitope regions. The similarity demonstrates that an internal image of the H antigen is formed in Ab<SUB>2</SUB>, which provides a structural basis for functional mimicry demonstrated earlier. This work brings out the importance of the structural similarity between a domain of hemagglutinin protein to that of its corresponding Ab<SUB>2</SUB>. It provides evidence that Ab<SUB>2</SUB> is indeed capable of functioning as surrogate antigen and provides support to earlier proposed relay hypothesis which has provided a mechanism for the maintenance of immunological memory