Biomedical and therapeutic applications of biosurfactants

During the last years, several applications of biosurfactants with medical purposes have been reported. Biosurfactants are considered relevant molecules for applications in combating many diseases and as therapeutic agents due to their antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activities. Furthermore, their role as anti-adhesive agents against several pathogens illustrate their utility as suitable anti-adhesive coating agents for medical insertional materials leading to a reduction of a large number of hospital infections without the use of synthetic drugs and chemicals. Biomedical and therapeutic perspectives of biosurfactants applications are presented and discussed in this chapter

Preclinical evaluation of a TEX101 protein ELISA test for the differential diagnosis of male infertility

BACKGROUND: TEX101 is a cell membrane protein exclusively expressed by testicular germ cells and shed into seminal plasma. We previously verified human TEX101 as a biomarker for the differential diagnosis of azoospermia, and developed a first-of-its-kind TEX101 ELISA. To demonstrate the clinical utility of TEX101, in this work we aimed at evaluating ELISA performance in a large population of fertile, subfertile, and infertile men. METHODS: Mass spectrometry, size-exclusion chromatography, ultracentrifugation, and immunohistochemistry were used to characterize TEX101 protein as an analyte in seminal plasma. Using the optimized protocol for seminal plasma pretreatment, TEX101 was measured by ELISA in 805 seminal plasma samples. RESULTS: We demonstrated that TEX101 was present in seminal plasma mostly in a free soluble form and that its small fraction was associated with seminal microvesicles. TEX101 median values were estimated in healthy, fertile pre-vasectomy men (5436 ng/mL, N = 64) and in patients with unexplained infertility (4967 ng/mL, N = 277), oligospermia (450 ng/mL, N = 270), and azoospermia (0.5 ng/mL, N = 137). Fertile post-vasectomy men (N = 57) and patients with Sertoli cell-only syndrome (N = 13) and obstructive azoospermia (N = 36) had undetectable levels of TEX101 (≤0.5 ng/mL). A cut-off value of 0.9 ng/mL provided 100% sensitivity at 100% specificity for distinguishing pre- and post-vasectomy men. The combination of a concentration of TEX101 > 0.9 ng/mL and epididymis-specific protein ECM1 > 2.3 μg/mL provided 81% sensitivity at 100% specificity for differentiating between non-obstructive and obstructive azoospermia, thus eliminating the majority of diagnostic testicular biopsies. In addition, a cut-off value of ≥0.6 ng/mL provided 73% sensitivity at 64% specificity for predicting sperm or spermatid retrieval in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the clinical utility of TEX101 ELISA as a test to evaluate vasectomy success, to stratify azoospermia forms, and to better select patients for sperm retrieval. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12916-017-0817-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Identification directe de protéases par spectrométrie de masse après zymographie avec substrats fluorescents en gels d'électrophorèse mono et bidimensionnels

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Protein composition of human epididymosomes collected during surgical vasectomy reversal: a proteomic and genomic approach

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Analysis of furin ectodomain shedding in epididymal fluid of mammals: demonstration that shedding of furin occurs in vivo

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Shedding of the germinal angiotensin I-converting enzyme (gACE) involves a serine protease and is activated by epididymal fluid

International audienceThe present report describes how the soluble germinal angiotensin 1-converting enzyme (gACE) appears in the epididymal fluid, where it has been identified in some laboratory rodents and domestic ungulates. We showed that this gACE results from an active proteolytic process that releases the enzyme's extracellular domain from sperm in a precise spatiotemporal location during epididymal transit and that this process involves serine protease activity. Using polyclonal antibodies against the C-terminal intracellular sequence of ACE, a fragment of approximately 10 kDa was detected on the sperm extract only in the epididymal region, where the gACE release occurs. The fluid enzyme was purified, and the cleavage site was determined by mass spectrometry to be between Arg(622) and Leu(623) of the mature sheep gACE sequence (equivalent to Arg(627) and Arg(1203) of the human mature gACE and somatic ACE sequences, respectively). Thereafter, the C-terminal Arg was removed, leaving Ala(621) as a C-terminal. Using an in vitro assay, gACE cleavage from sperm was strongly increased by the presence of epididymal fluid from the release zone, and this increase was inhibited specifically by the serine protease-inhibitor AEBSF but not by para-aminobenzamidine. None of the other inhibitors tested, such as metallo- or cystein-protease inhibitors, had a similar effect on release. It was also found that this process did not involve changes in gACE phosphorylation

In vivo shedding of the germinal angiotensin-converting enzyme (gACE) involves a serine protease and is controlled by epididymal factor(s)

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