Decoding the role of cytochrome c in metabolism of human spermatozoa by Raman imaging.

The normal functioning of sperm cells requires cytochrome c in the redox balanced forms: reduced and oxidized. The oxidized form of cytochrome c is localized in the mitochondrial intermembrane space and is a part of the electron transport chain. This ensures that electron shuttling between the complex III, cytochrome c, and complex IV can occur leading to controlled effective oxidative phosphorylation (respiration) and ATP production needed for most steps in spermatozoal maturation, motility, hyperactivation and fertilization. We studied the biochemical composition of specific organelles in sperm cells by Raman imaging. The structures of the head consisting of the nucleus and acrosome, the midpiece representing mitochondria, and the tail characterized by the sperm axoneme surrounded by outer dense fiber and covered by the membrane were measured. Metabolic biochemical analysis of mitochondria, head and tail of sperm cells, and seminal plasma by using Raman imaging combined with chemometric classification method of Cluster Analysis has been obtained. Our results show that cytochrome c, which is a key protein that is needed to maintain life (respiration) and cell death (apoptosis), is located in sperm mitochondria in the oxidized or reduced form of the heme group. This work demonstrated that an application of Raman micro-spectroscopy can be extended to monitoring the redox state of mitochondrial cytochrome c in sperm cells.

Serum concentrations of CCL20/MIP-3alpha in women with endometriosis.

INTRODUCTION: Endometriosis is a chronic disease defined by the presence of uterine mucosa outside the uterine cavity. Abnormal levels of cytokines, growth factors, adhesion molecules and metalloproteinases have been found in patients with endometriosis. A review of the literature revealed no papers on CCL20 serum levels in women with endometriosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 32 women who underwent laparoscopy in the Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital-Research Institute, Lodz, Poland. Patients were divided into 2 groups: the study and control group. The study group was divided into three subgroups according to endometriosis form. Twenty patients were included in the study group and 12 patients acted as controls. CCL20 concentrations value were determined using a quantitative sandwich ELISA kit (R&D Systems). Results were statistically analyzed by SPSS STATISTICS 24.0.0 software. A significance level of 0.05 was used. RESULTS: The mean serum level of CCL20 in the study group was 7.4 pg/ml. In controls the mean value was 10.95 pg/ml. The concentration of CCL20 was statistically significantly lower in the study group than in controls (p = 0.004). Within the study group the highest values were reported in patients with endometrial ovarian cysts (8.55 pg/ml), intermediate in the DIE subgroup (8.24 pg/ml) and the lowest in patients with peritoneal endometriosis (6.74 pg/ml). Differences between subgroups were not statistically significant (p = 0.385). CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed statistically significantly decreased CCL20 serum levels in women with endometriosis. No significant differences of CCL20 serum levels between patients with different forms of endometriosis were observed.