β-Glucans is the common name given to a group of chemically heterogeneous polysaccharides. They are long- or short-chain polymers of (1-->3)-β-linked glucose moieties which may be branched, with the branching chains linked to the backbone by a (1-->6)-β linkage. β-(1-->3)-Glucans are widely distributed in bacteria, algae, fungi and plants, where they are involved in cell wall structure and other biological function. β-Glucans have been shown to provide a remarkable range of health benefits, and are especially important against the two most common conventional causes of death in industrialized countries, i.e. cardiovascular diseases (where they promote healthy cholesterol and blood glucose levels) and cancer (where they enhance immune system functions). This Highlight provides a comprehensive and up-to-date commentary on β-glucans, their chemistry, physico-chemistry, functional role in immunological responses, and possible applications as therapeutic tools. In addition, we discuss the mechanism behind their health benefits, which are not yet fully understood.

Recent evidence indicates the presence of p21 Ras and of a protein with characteristics similar to mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), also known as extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), in mammalian spermatozoa, suggesting the occurrence of the Ras/ERK cascade in these cells. In the present study we investigated the subcellular localization of ERKs and their biological functions in human spermatozoa. Immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy, and immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated localization of ERKs in the postacrosomal region of spermatozoa. After stimulation of acrosome reaction with the calcium ionophore A23187 and progesterone, ERKs were mostly localized at the level of the equatorial region, indicating redistribution of these proteins in acrosome-reacted spermatozoa. Two proteins of 42 and 44 kDa that are tyrosine phosphorylated in a time-dependent manner during in vitro capacitation were identified as p42 (ERK-2) and p44 (ERK-1) by means of specific antibodies. The increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of these proteins during capacitation was accompanied by increased kinase activity, as determined by the ability of ERK-1 and ERK-2 to phosphorylate the substrate myelin basic protein. The role of this activity in the occurrence of sperm capacitation was also investigated by using PD098059, an inhibitor of the MAPK cascade. The presence of this compound during in vitro capacitation inhibits ERK activation and significantly reduces the ability of spermatozoa to undergo the acrosome reaction in response to progesterone. Since only capacitated spermatozoa are able to respond to progesterone, these data strongly indicate that ERKs are involved in the regulation of capacitation. In summary, our data demonstrate the presence of functional ERKs in human spermatozoa and indicate that these enzymes are involved in activation of these cells during capacitation, providing new insight in clarifying the molecular mechanisms and the signal transduction pathways of this process.

The aim of this study was to verify the activation details and products of human lymphomonocytes, stimulated by different β‐glucans, that is Euglena paramylon, MacroGard®, and lipopolysaccharide. We investigated the gene expression of inflammation‐related cytokines and mediators, transactivation of relevant transcription factors, and phagocytosis role in cell‐glucan interactions, by means of RT‐PCR, immunocytochemistry, and colorimetric assay. Our results show that sonicated and alkalized paramylon upregulates pro‐inflammatory factors (NO, TNF‐α, IL‐6, and COX‐2) in lymphomonocytes. A clear demonstration of this upregulation is the increased transactivation of NF‐kB visualized by immunofluorescence microscopy. Phagocytosis assay showed that internalization is not a mandatory step for signaling cascade to be triggered, since immune activity is not present in the lymphomonocytes that have internalized paramylon granules and particulate MacroGard®. Moreover, the response of Euglena β‐glucan‐activated lymphomonocytes is much greater than that induced by commercially used β‐glucans such as MacroGard®. Our in vitro results indicate that linear fibrous Euglena β‐glucan, obtained by sonication and alkaline treatment can act as safe and effective coadjutant of the innate immune system response.

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Microalgae are unicellular photoautotrophs that grow in any habitat from fresh and saline water bodies, to hot springs and ice. Microalgae can be used as indicators to monitor water ecosystem conditions. These organisms react quickly and predictably to a broad range of environmental stressors, thus providing early signals of a changing environment. When grown extensively, microalgae may produce harmful effects on marine or freshwater ecology and fishery resources. Rapid and accurate recognition and classification of microalgae is one of the most important issues in water resource management. In this paper, a methodology for automatic and real time identification and enumeration of microalgae by means of image analysis is presented. The methodology is based on segmentation, shape feature extraction, pigment signature determination and neural network grouping; it attained 98.6% accuracy from a set of 53,869 images of 23 different microalgae representing the major algal phyla. In our opinion this methodology partly overcomes the lack of automated identification systems and is on the forefront of developing a computer-based image processing technique to automatically detect, recognize, identify and enumerate microalgae genera and species from all the divisions. This methodology could be useful for an appropriate and effective water resource management.