[ELIE METCHNIKOFF--THE FOUNDER OF LONGEVITY SCIENCE AND A FOUNDER OF MODERN MEDICINE: IN HONOR OF THE 170TH ANNIVERSARY].

The years 2015-2016 mark a double anniversary--the 170th anniversary of birth and the 100th anni- versary of death--of one of the greatest Russian scientists, a person that may be considered a founding figure of modern immunology, aging and longevity science--Elie Metchnikoff (May 15, 1845-July 15, 1916). At this time of the rapid aging of the world population and the rapid development of technologies that may ameliorate degenerative aging processes, Metchnikoff's pioneering contribution to the search for anti-aging and healthspan-extending means needs to be recalled and honored.

An information-theoretical model for breast cancer detection.

OBJECTIVES: Formal diagnostic modeling is an important line of modern biological and medical research. The construction of a formal diagnostic model consists of two stages: first, the estimation of correlation between model parameters and the disease under consideration; and second, the construction of a diagnostic decision rule using these correlation estimates. A serious drawback of current diagnostic models is the absence of a unified mathematical methodological approach to implementing these two stages. The absence of a unified approach makes the theoretical/biomedical substantiation of diagnostic rules difficult and reduces the efficacy of actual diagnostic model application. METHODS: The present study constructs a formal model for breast cancer detection. The diagnostic model is based on information theory. Normalized mutual information is chosen as the measure of relevance between parameters and the patterns studied. The "nearest neighbor" rule is utilized for diagnosis, while the distance between elements is the weighted Hamming distance. The model concomitantly employs cellular fluorescence polarization as the quantitative input parameter and cell receptor expression as qualitative parameters. RESULTS: Twenty-four healthy individuals and 34 patients (not including the subjects analyzed for the model construction) were tested by the model. Twenty-three healthy subjects and 34 patients were correctly diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed diagnostic model is an open one, i.e. it can accommodate new additional parameters, which may increase its effectiveness.

The influence of different cultivating conditions on polymorphonuclear leukocyte apoptotic process in vitro, II: ultrastructural characteristics of PMN populations incubated with proteinase 3 anti-neutrophil autoantibodies.

The present study shows the effects of proteinase 3 anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (PR3 ANCA) on polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) apoptotic processes in vitro. The results are part of a generalized morphological analysis of 3 identical experiments on the influence of different cultivating conditions on the apoptotic processes. As controls, the authors use the results on spontaneous PMN apoptosis (Guejes L, Zurgil N, Deutsch M, Gilburd B, Shoenfeld Y. Ultrastruct Pathol. 2003;27: 23-32) and PMN populations incubated with normal human IgG. Interaction of PR3 ANCA with the target antigen proteinase 3 (PR3) is one of the crucial pathogenic factors in Wegener granulomatosis (systemic autoimmune vasculitis). Following 40min and 12h incubation, PMN populations were evaluated by light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and immunogold electron microscopy. Twelve-hour cultures, either control or incubated with PR3 ANCA, contained different cell forms ranging from normal cells to cells at the final stages of apoptosis. Neutrophils at the state of complete manifestation of apoptotic phenotype were analyzed and compared. Three morphologically distinct apoptotic cell lines were characteristic for all PMN populations studied, regardless of cultivating conditions. As in spontaneous apoptosis, these cell lines are code-named "first," "second," and "third." The present study has shown, firstly, that in the presence of PR3 ANCA, all 3 apoptotic lines were modified or altered. Secondly, the modifications or alterations of apoptotic cell lines effected by PR3 ANCA are specific for each cell line: the "first" line is characterized by intensification and modification of activation; the "second" by vacuolized cell forms; and the "third" by pronounced lytic alterations of the nuclei, while the cytoplasm is fully identical to that of control cell lines.