Single-Cell Heterogeneity Analysis and CRISPR Screen Identify Key β-Cell-Specific Disease Genes

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Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes: A novel and potential remedy for cutaneous wound healing and regeneration

Poor healing of cutaneous wounds is a common medical problem in the field of traumatology. Due to the intricate pathophysiological processes of wound healing, the use of conventional treatment methods, such as chemical molecule drugs and traditional dressings, have been unable to achieve satisfactory outcomes. Within recent years, explicit evidence suggests that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have great therapeutic potentials on skin wound healing and regeneration. However, the direct application of MSCs still faces many challenges and difficulties. Intriguingly, exosomes as cell-secreted granular vesicles with a lipid bilayer membrane structure and containing specific components from the source cells may emerge to be excellent substitutes for MSCs. Exosomes derived from MSCs (MSC-exosomes) have been demonstrated to be beneficial for cutaneous wound healing and accelerate the process through a variety of mechanisms. These mechanisms include alleviating inflammation, promoting vascularization, and promoting proliferation and migration of epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Therefore, the application of MSC-exosomes may be a promising alternative to cell therapy in the treatment of cutaneous wounds and could promote wound healing through multiple mechanisms simultaneously. This review will provide an overview of the role and the mechanisms of MSC-derived exosomes in cutaneous wound healing, and elaborate the potentials and future perspectives of MSC-exosomes application in clinical practice.     

Therapeutic applications of adipose-derived stromal vascular fractions in osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is considered to be a highly heterogeneous disease with progressive cartilage loss, subchondral bone remodeling, and low-grade inflammation. It is one of the world's leading causes of disability. Most conventional clinical treatments for OA are palliative drugs, which cannot fundamentally cure this disease. The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) from adipose tissues is a heterogeneous cell population. According to previous studies, it contains a large number of mesenchymal stem cells, which have been used to treat OA with good therapeutic results. This safe, simple, and effective therapy is expected to be applied and promoted in the future. In this paper, the detailed pathogenesis, diagnosis, and current clinical treatments for OA are introduced. Then, clinical studies and the therapeutic mechanism of SVF for the treatment of OA are summarized.     

水稻黄绿叶调控基因YGL18的克隆与功能解析

叶色突变体往往伴随着叶绿素含量变化及叶绿体结构异常, 是研究叶绿体发育与光合作用相关基因功能的重要材料。该研究通过甲基磺酸乙酯(EMS)诱变籼稻(Oryza sativa subsp. indica)品种华占(HZ)获得黄绿叶突变体, 将其命名为ygl18 (yellow-green leaf 18)。与野生型相比, 黄绿叶突变体ygl18自三叶期起叶片开始变黄且程度不断加深, 同时伴随着光合速率与叶绿素含量下降, 且结实率、千粒重及有效穗数均显著降低。透射电镜观察结果显示, ygl18的叶绿体结构紊乱, 基质片层疏松, 发育受到抑制, 与叶片出现黄绿色表型一致。遗传分析表明, ygl18突变性状受1对隐性等位核基因控制, 这对等位基因位于水稻第3号染色体长臂标记InDel2和InDel3之间115.2 kb范围内。进一步研究发现该突变体表型是编码铁氧还蛋白FdC2的基因LOC_Os03g48040的5'UTR发生突变所致。通过CRISPR转基因实验验证了该基因对表型的控制作用。研究结果揭示了叶色调控网络的遗传基础, 可为今后选育高光效水稻品种提供新线索。     

LATS1 K751 acetylation blocks activation of Hippo signalling and switches LATS1 from a tumor suppressor to an oncoprotein

Science China Life Sciences - Large tumor suppressor 1 (LATS1) is the key kinase controlling activation of Hippo signalling pathway. Post-translational modifications of LATS1 modulate its kinase...     

First fossil fruits of Elaeocarpus (Elaeocarpaceae) in East Asia: Implications for phytogeography and paleoecology

The genus Elaeocarpus contains approximately 360 species and occurs in mesic forest communities from India, through to China, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, and New Caledonia. Elaeocarpus fossils are best known from the Eocene to the Miocene of Australia and the late Pliocene–early Pleistocene of India, but have not been documented from East Asia before. Here we describe six new species of Elaeocarpus, E. nanningensis sp. nov. from the late Oligocene Yongning Formation of the Nanning Basin, E. presikkimensis sp. nov. from the Miocene Erzitang Formation of the Guiping Basin, E. prerugosus sp. nov., E. prelacunosus sp. nov., E. preserratus sp. nov., and E. preprunifolioides sp. nov. from the late Miocene Foluo Formation of the Nankang Basin in Guangxi, South China. This is the first reliable report for the genus occurring in East Asia, and the fossils indicate that Elaeocarpus had colonized this region by the late Oligocene and represented by a morphologically diverse group of species by the late Miocene. This sheds new insights into the timing and migration patterns of the genus in East Asia. Elaeocarpus is typically a rainforest genus occurring in mesic forests. Based on the habitat of their morphologically similar modern relatives we propose that these three sedimentary basins were warm and wet adjacent to mountainous regions with the evergreen or rain forests during the late Oligocene to Miocene.     

Effects of magnolol and honokiol blend on performance,egg quality,hepatic lipid metabolism,and intestinal morphology of hens at late laying cycle

Magnolol and its isomer honokiol are polyphenols with anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. We evaluated the effects of magnolol and honokiol supplementation alone or in combination with hen diets during the late laying cycle. A total of 540 Jingfen pink-shell laying hens (50 weeks old) were randomly assigned to six treatments: a control diet and diets supplemented with 300 mg/kg magnolol (M₃₀₀), honokiol (H₃₀₀), or 300 mg/kg total phenols with a magnolol/honokiol ratio of 2:1 (M₂₀₀H₁₀₀), 1:2 (M₁₀₀H₂₀₀), and 1:1 (M₁₅₀H₁₅₀). Compared with that of the control, all supplementation groups had higher laying rates and the M₃₀₀, M₁₀₀H₂₀₀, and M₁₅₀H₁₅₀ groups showed comparatively lower feed conversion ratios. Magnolol and honokiol supplementation increased the Haugh units of fresh eggs at week 62 and alleviated the decline of the Haugh units of eggs stored for 14 days. Compared with that of the control group, the serum total antioxidant capacity of the M₁₀₀H₂₀₀ and M₁₅₀H₁₅₀ groups significantly increased, and all supplementation groups had higher total antioxidant capacity and lower malondialdehyde content in the liver. With respect to lipid metabolism, the M₂₀₀H₁₀₀ and M₁₅₀H₁₅₀ groups had lower total and relative liver weights compared with those of the control and H₃₀₀ groups. The mRNA expression levels of CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha, sterol regulatory element binding protein-1, fatty acid synthase and stearyl coenzyme A desaturase 1 involved in lipogenesis; microsomal triglyceride transfer protein and apolipoprotein B involved in fatty acid transport; and the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta were lower in all supplementation groups compared with those in the control. With respect to gut health, the heights of the jejunum and ileum villi significantly increased in all supplementation groups compared with those of the control, and the jejunum villus heights of the M₃₀₀ and M₁₅₀H₁₅₀ groups were higher than those of the H₃₀₀ and M₁₀₀H₂₀₀ groups. The H₃₀₀ and M₁₅₀H₁₅₀ groups had higher mRNA expression levels of zonula occludens-1 in the ileum compared with those in the control and M₃₀₀ groups, whereas all supplementation groups had higher mRNA levels of claudin-1 than that of the control group. In conclusion, magnolol and honokiol improved hen performance and the albumen quality of fresh and stored eggs by improving the antioxidant capacity, liver lipid metabolism, and intestinal health of laying hens. The combination of magnolol and honokiol at a 1:1 ratio may be an optimal choice for hen diet supplementation.     

Erratum to: MYH7B variants cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by activating the CaMK-signaling pathway

Science China Life Sciences -     

德州汉族人群37个Y⁃STR基因座遗传多态性分析

调查德州汉族人群598名男性无关个体37个Y-STR基因座的遗传多态性,分析其在法医学和群体遗传学方面的应用价值,用AGCU Y37荧光检测试剂盒对德州汉族群体的37个Y-STR基因座进行扩增,用3500xL基因分析仪对其进行检测。用MEGA 7.0软件,通过邻接法（neighbor-joining, NJ）构建德州汉族群体和其他15个参考群体的系统发生树,探索群体间的遗传关系。结果共检出593种单倍型,基因多样性（genetic diversity, GD）值为0.113 9（DYS645）～0.971 4（DYS385a/b）,单倍型多样性（haplotype diversity, HD）和识别能力（discriminative capacity, DC）分别为0.999 971 989和0.991 6。结果表明,这37个Y-STR基因座在德州汉族人群中有较高的多态性分布。群体遗传分析中,遗传距离、多维尺度分析( multi-dimensional scaling,MDS) 和系统发生树分析结果表明,德州汉族与其他地区的汉族群体遗传距离更近。不同群体的遗传特征与语系划分、历史形成、地理分布等方面具有一致性。研究结果可为德州汉族人群的法庭科学和群体遗传学研究提供基础数据支持。