HLA-G isoforms, HLA-C allotype and their expressions differ between early abortus and placenta in relation to spontaneous abortions.

INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous abortion (SAB) affects approximately 10% of clinically recognized pregnancies. Fetal trophobalst invasion and remodeling of maternal spiral arteries is reported to be dependent on crosstalk between HLA-C/HLA-G expressed on extra villous trophoblast (EVTs)and Killer cell Immunoglobin like receptors (KIRs) of decidual NK (dNK). Immune dysfunction in decidua contributes to early miscarriage. METHODOLOGY: The study used mother neonate paired cord blood and term placenta samples (n = 46), elective abortus (n = 17,gestational age = 10-12 weeks of pregnancy) and SAB abortus (n = 24, gestational age = 12-15 weeks of pregnancy) for HLA-G, KIR2D and HLA-C. In addition, term placenta was collected from women with history of spontaneous pregnancy loss (n = 24) and women with history of live birth (n = 32). SSP-PCR was used for genotyping, RT-PCR for gene expression, copy number variation (CNVs) and HLA-C allotyping and ELISA for protein expression studies. RESULTS: Membrane bound HLA-G4 isoform proportion was higher 39.28%, p = 0.02) in term placenta. SAB abortus had higher proportion of HLA-G3 (50%),while elective abortus exhibited higher proportion of soluble isoforms (HLA-G5, = 5.9, HLA-G6 = 5.9%, HLA-G7 = 11.8%). Higher inhibitory KIR2DL1 content and copy numbers with lower HLA-C2 in SAB contrasted with higher copy numbers of KIR2DS1(p = 0.001), KIR2DS1+/2DL1+- HLA-C2 combined genotype in healthy placenta. Elevated KIR2D protein levels (p = 0.001), and concurrently, HLA-C levels were upregulated in healthy placenta. CONCLUSION: Our data supports lower cognate receptor ligand KIR2DS1+/2DL1+ HLA-C2 together with predominance of HLA-G3 isoform in SAB as confounding factors in spontaneous pregnancy loss. HLA-G isoforms and expression differed between first trimester abortus and term placenta suggesting temporal modulation and marks novelty of the study.

Characterization of coconut milk waste nanocellulose based curcumin-enriched Pickering nanoemulsion and its application in a blended beverage of defatted coconut milk and pineapple juice.

In this study, we aimed to develop a blended beverage enriched with curcumin. The curcumin was incorporated within a Pickering nanoemulsion that was stabilized with nanocellulose. The nanocellulose was synthesized from coconut milk waste residue using 38 %-42 % sulfuric acid (AC) and 5 and 10 min ultrasound (UL) separately and in combination (ACU). While combined treatment showed an increase in particle size with ultrasonication time, PDI was observed to decrease. ACU with 10 min ultrasonication was further used at 0.05 %, 0.1 %, 0.2 %, and 0.3 % for stabilization of curcumin enriched Pickering nanoemulsion. The curcumin in Pickering nanoemulsion fabricated with 0.1 % of nanocellulose with an average particle size and PDI value of 259.6 nm and 0.284, respectively was found to be the most stable as compared to other Pickering nanoemulsions at different pH levels and temperatures. RP-HPLC analysis revealed that with 0.1 % of nanocellulose, the Pickering nanoemulsion was most stable at 2 pH and 63 °C temperatures. The in vitro release of curcumin from Pickering nanoemulsion added to a blended beverage in intestinal phase was 51.58 %, which was higher than the stomach phase (38.19 %). The outcomes clearly showed Pickering nanoemulsion to be a promising carrier for curcumin encapsulation in beverage.

Proximity induced longitudinal and transverse thermoelectric response in graphene-ferromagnetic CrBr3vdW heterostructure.

The integration of longitudinal and transverse thermoelectric (TE) fosters various new opportunities in tuning the charge transport behaviour and opens a platform for efficient thermopower devices. The presence of asymmetric electronic structure supposed to accomplish large thermopower and electronic figure of merit. Herein, we investigate magnetic proximity coupled longitudinal and transverse TE behaviour in heterostructure of monolayer semimetal, graphene and a monolayer ferromagnet, CrBr3under the framework ofab initio-based calculations and employed constant relaxation time approximation (CRTA).The integrated density of states is elevated and asymmetric near Fermi energy region due to seamless proximity integration, depicting mixed character of graphene and CrBr3. The asymmetric nature of electronic structure significantly affects the Seebeck coefficients (S) and electrical conductivity (σ/τ) of heterostructure. The consistent step-like conductance spectrum influences interfacial polarization due to agile proximity integration. The magnitude of Seebeck coefficient (S) is found to be 653µV K-1near Fermi level. The heterostructure observes higher electrical conductivity and power factor in n-type region of the order of 106S m-1and 1020cm-3at room temperature. The dimensionless electronic figure of merit (zTe) advocates the heterostructure system to be an ideal TE material. Alongside longitudinal TE, we also find the heterostructure system is sensitive to anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) (transverse TE) with oscillatory nature. The Seebeck and ANE shows high degree of tunability with applied external electric field. The synergistic existence of Seebeck and ANE due to proximity integration in van der Waals atomic crystal at room temperature will provide realistic approach to experimentally fabricate and develop real-time thermopower devices.

A comparative study on regulation of HLA-G expression in bad obstetric history and in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma from Northeast India.

The expression of immunomodulatory molecule HLA-G is tissue restricted with abundant expression in placenta, mediating immune tolerance to fetus. Tumors hijack HLA-G to establish nutrient supply and evade host immune response. 14 base pair Insertion/Deletion polymorphism (rs371194629) and + 3142 G/C SNP (rs1063320) of 3'UTR of HLA-G were investigated in conjunction with miR-148A, miR-152 and HLA-G expression in SAB (Spontaneous abortion) history placenta and HNSCC tumor in a hospital-based case control study. Higher frequency of G allele of rs1063320 was seen in study participants as reported in other global populations. Both miR-148A and miR-152 were downregulated in tumor tissue. Predominance of 14 base pair "IN" allele of rs371194629 was noted in SAB placental tissue (p =<0.0001) with lower expression of HLA-G levels. In conclusion, 14 base pair Insertion/Deletion in linkage with + 3142 G/C SNP was related to lower HLA-G protein expression in SAB tissue, contradictorily HLA-G protein level was manipulated by tumors by suppressing microRNAs.

Proximity effects in graphene and ferromagnetic CrBr3 van der Waals heterostructures.

Herein, we report first-principles calculations for the magnetic proximity effect in a van der Waals heterostructure formed by a graphene monolayer, induced by its interaction with a two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnet (chromium tribromide, CrBr3). We observed that the magnetic proximity effect arising from the spin-dependent interlayer coupling depends on the interlayer electronic configuration. The proximity effect results in the spin polarization of the graphene orbital by up to 63.6%, together with a miniband splitting of about 73.4 meV, and 8% enhancement in the magnetic moment (3.47 µB per cell) in the heterostructure. The position of the Fermi level in the Dirac cone is shown to depend strongly on the graphene-CrBr3 interlayer separation of 3.77 Å. Consequently, we also show that a perpendicular electric field can be used to control the miniband spin splitting and transmission spectrum. Also, the interfacial polarization effect due to the existence of two different constituents reinforces the conductivity via electrostatic screening in the heterolayer. These findings point towards the application potential of this unique system in nanoscale devices, where the electric field-driven magnetic proximity effect can lead to spin controllability and possible engineering of spin gating.

Integrative Approaches to Understand the Mastery in Manipulation of Host Cytokine Networks by Protozoan Parasites with Emphasis on Plasmodium and Leishmania Species.

Diseases by protozoan pathogens pose a significant public health concern, particularly in tropical and subtropical countries, where these are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. Protozoan pathogens tend to establish chronic infections underscoring their competence at subversion of host immune processes, an important component of disease pathogenesis and of their virulence. Modulation of cytokine and chemokine levels, their crosstalks and downstream signaling pathways, and thereby influencing recruitment and activation of immune cells is crucial to immune evasion and subversion. Many protozoans are now known to secrete effector molecules that actively modulate host immune transcriptome and bring about alterations in host epigenome to alter cytokine levels and signaling. The complexity of multi-dimensional events during interaction of hosts and protozoan parasites ranges from microscopic molecular levels to macroscopic ecological and epidemiological levels that includes disrupting metabolic pathways, cell cycle (Toxoplasma and Theileria sp.), respiratory burst, and antigen presentation (Leishmania spp.) to manipulation of signaling hubs. This requires an integrative systems biology approach to combine the knowledge from all these levels to identify the complex mechanisms of protozoan evolution via immune escape during host-parasite coevolution. Considering the diversity of protozoan parasites, in this review, we have focused on Leishmania and Plasmodium infections. Along with the biological understanding, we further elucidate the current efforts in generating, integrating, and modeling of multi-dimensional data to explain the modulation of cytokine networks by these two protozoan parasites to achieve their persistence in host via immune escape during host-parasite coevolution.