This is what you should doArticle on FacebookTwitterEmail This article can be shared under the Attribution 4.0 International License. University University of California IrvineResearch shows that albumin, a protein rich in vitamin B, is important for both fertilization as well as fighting infection.Albumin (Alb), activates a proton canal (hHv1) also common in the body. This gives sperm the ability of entering and fertilizing an egg and allows white blood cells to release large amounts of inflammatory mediators.Researchers investigated the physiological relationship between Alb and human voltage-gated pron channels (hHv1) which are essential for cell biology in both health and disease. The mechanism by which Alb binds to hHv1 in order to activate the channel was also revealed.This discovery suggests that there are new strategies to increase or block fertility.This research describes how sperm can be triggered to fertilize and how neutrophils are stimulated by mediators in the innate immunity response. It also identifies a new role of Alb in physiology, which will work in many tissues that express hHv1. Nature Communications published the study.Because Alb is low in semen but high in the reproductive system, we found that sperm are activated by the interaction of hHv1 and Alb. Ruiming Zhao, first author, from the University of California Irvine School of Medicine, believes that we now know why albumin supplementation improves IVF.The same Alb/hHv1 interaction also allowed white blood cells, called neutrophils, to produce and secrete inflammatory mediators that kill bacteria. It is important to remember that the inflammatory response can cause disease.Alb's essential stimulatory role in the physiology and function of sperm, neutrophils, and hHV1 suggests that Alb may have unrecognized roles in other tissues such as the heart and central nervous system. It will also influence breast cancers and the gastrointestinal tract.It's exciting to learn that a common protein can activate the proton channel. This discovery suggests new strategies for blocking or enhancing fertility, as well as to augment or suppress the immune response and inflammation. Senior author Steve A. N. Goldstein is vice chancellor of Health Affairs and professor in the School of Medicine, Departments of Pediatrics, Physiology, and Biophysics. He also teaches in the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences.In addition to the capacitation and innate immune responses, hHv1 has been implicated in many biological processes. These channels play important roles in the proliferation of cancer cells and tissue damage from ischemic stroke. Alb is found in a variety of human tissues, so the paper describes how Alb can potentiate hHv1 in a wide range of tissue-dependent levels. It plays both a salutary role and impedes human physiology.We have created a model of the structure of Alb binding to the channel that causes activation and changes to cellular function. Now we conduct in vivo studies on viral and bacterial infection. Goldstein says that the next steps will include research on the effects of Alb-hHv1 inhibitors on fertility, inflammation, and infection.The National Institutes of Health, the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Argentina, Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica in Argentina, and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Direccion General de Asuntos del Personal Academico all supported the work.Source: UC Irvine
