Combined use of dbcAMP and IBMX minimizes the damage induced by a long‐term artificial meiotic arrest in mouse germinal vesicle oocytes

Phosphodiesterase (PDE)‐mediated reduction of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) activity can initiate germinal vesicle (GV) breakdown in mammalian oocytes. It is crucial to maintain oocytes at the GV stage for a long period to analyze meiotic resumption in vitro. Meiotic resumption can be reversibly inhibited in isolated oocytes by cAMP modulator forskolin, cAMP analog dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP), or PDE inhibitors, milrinone (Mil), Cilostazol (CLZ), and 3‐isobutyl‐1‐methylxanthine (IBMX). However, these chemicals negatively affect oocyte development and maturation when used independently. Here, we used ICR mice to develop a model that could maintain GV‐stage arrest with minimal toxic effects on subsequent oocyte and embryonic development. We identified optimal concentrations of forskolin, dbcAMP, Mil, CLZ, IBMX, and their combinations for inhibiting oocyte meiotic resumption. Adverse effects were assessed according to subsequent development potential, including meiotic resumption after washout, first polar body extrusion, early apoptosis, double‐strand DNA breaks, mitochondrial distribution, adenosine triphosphate levels, and embryonic development. Incubation with a combination of 50.0 μM dbcAMP and 10.0 μM IBMX efficiently inhibited meiotic resumption in GV‐stage oocytes, with low toxicity on subsequent oocyte maturation and embryonic development. This work proposes a novel method with reduced toxicity to effectively arrest and maintain mouse oocytes at the GV stage.     

LncRNA SNHG1 exerts a protective role in cardiomyocytes hypertrophy via targeting miR‐15a‐5p/HMGA1 axis

Heart failure preceded by pathological cardiac hypertrophy is a leading cause of death. Long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 1 (SNHG1) was reported to inhibit cardiomyocytes apoptosis, but the role and underlying mechanism of SNHG1 in pathological cardiac hypertrophy have not yet been understood. This study was designed to investigate the role and molecular mechanism of SNHG1 in regulating cardiac hypertrophy. We found that SNHG1 was upregulated during cardiac hypertrophy both in vivo (transverse aortic constriction treatment) and in vitro (phenylephrine [PE] treatment). SNHG1 overexpression attenuated the cardiomyocytes hypertrophy induced by PE, while SNHG1 inhibition promoted hypertrophic response of cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, SNHG1 and high‐mobility group AT‐hook 1 (HMGA1) were confirmed to be targets of miR‐15a‐5p. SNHG1 promoted HMGA1 expression by sponging miR‐15a‐5p, eventually attenuating cardiomyocytes hypertrophy. There data revealed a novel protective mechanism of SNHG1 in cardiomyocytes hypertrophy. Thus, targeting of SNHG1‐related pathway may be therapeutically harnessed to treat cardiac hypertrophy.     

《本草图经》药物杜衡的本草考证

研究《本草图经》中记载的中药杜衡,通过查阅历代书籍和现代文献记载,对其名称、形态、地理分布、功效、药图进行考证,探究其原植物品种。结果表明,《本草图经》中记载的杜衡其原植物可能包含马兜铃科细辛属植物杜衡(Asarum forbesii Maxim)和小叶马蹄香(Asarum ichangense C. Y. Cheng et C. S. Yang)两种,该结果可为充分认识中药杜衡的基原植物提供新的佐证,为中药杜衡的临床应用提供参考。     

Exogenous Melatonin Improves Drought Tolerance in Maize Seedlings by Regulating Photosynthesis and the Ascorbate–Glutathione Cycle

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Melatonin is known to exert protective effects in maize against drought stress, but the knowledge regarding interaction among the melatonin, photosynthetic...     

Melatonin Alleviates Drought-Induced Damage of Photosynthetic Apparatus in Maize Seedlings

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Melatonin plays an important role in the enhancement of plant tolerance to drought stress. The underlying mechanisms of this melatonin-induced protection of...     

Distinct genomic traits of acral and mucosal melanomas revealed by targeted mutational profiling

The incidence of melanoma is rising globally including China. Comparing to Caucasians, the incidence of non‐cutaneous melanomas is significantly higher in Chinese. Herein, we performed genomic profiling of 89 Chinese surgically resected primary melanomas, including acral (n = 54), cutaneous (n = 22), and mucosal (n = 13), by hybrid capture‐based next‐generation sequencing. We show that mucosal melanomas tended to harbor more pathogenic mutations than other types of melanoma, though the biological significance of this finding remains uncertain. Chromosomal arm‐level alterations including 6q, 9p, and 10p/q loss were highly recurrent in all subtypes, but mucosal melanoma was significantly associated with increased genomic instability. Importantly, 7p gain significantly correlated with unfavorable clinical outcomes in non‐cutaneous melanomas, representing an intriguing prognostic biomarker of those subtypes. Furthermore, focal amplification of 4q12 (KIT, KDR, and PDGFRα) and RAD51 deletion were more abundant in mucosal melanoma, while NOTCH2 amplification was enriched in acral melanoma. Additionally, cutaneous melanomas had higher mutation load than acral melanomas, while mucosal melanomas did not differ from other subtypes in mutation burden. Together, our data revealed important features of acral and mucosal melanomas in Chinese including distinctive driver mutation pattern and increased genomic instability. These findings highlight the possibilities of combination therapies in the clinical management of melanoma.     

Vertebrate-Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera)-arbovirus transmission networks: Non-human feeding revealed by meta-barcoding and next-generation sequencing

BackgroundAedes aegypti mosquito-borne viruses including Zika (ZIKV), dengue (DENV), yellow fever (YFV), and chikungunya (CHIKV) have emerged and re-emerged globally, resulting in an elevated burden of human disease. Aedes aegypti is found worldwide in tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate areas. The characterization of mosquito blood meals is essential to understand the transmission dynamics of mosquito-vectored pathogens.Methodology/principal findingsHere, we report Ae. aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus host feeding patterns and arbovirus transmission in Northern Mexico using a metabarcoding-like approach with next-generation deep sequencing technology. A total of 145 Ae. aegypti yielded a blood meal analysis result with 107 (73.8%) for a single vertebrate species and 38 (26.2%) for two or more. Among the single host blood meals for Ae. aegypti, 28.0% were from humans, 54.2% from dogs, 16.8% from cats, and 1.0% from tortoises. Among those with more than one species present, 65.9% were from humans and dogs. For Cx. quinquefasciatus, 388 individuals yielded information with 326 (84%) being from a single host and 63 (16.2%) being from two or more hosts. Of the single species blood meals, 77.9% were from dogs, 6.1% from chickens, 3.1% from house sparrows, 2.4% from humans, while the remaining 10.5% derived from other 12 host species. Among those which had fed on more than one species, 11% were from dogs and humans, and 89% of other host species combinations. Forage ratio analysis revealed dog as the most over-utilized host by Ae. aegypti (= 4.3) and Cx. quinquefasciatus (= 5.6) and the human blood index at 39% and 4%, respectively. A total of 2,941 host-seeking female Ae. aegypti and 3,536 Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes were collected in the surveyed area. Of these, 118 Ae. aegypti pools and 37 Cx. quinquefasciatus pools were screened for seven arboviruses (ZIKV, DENV 1–4, CHIKV, and West Nile virus (WNV)) using qRT-PCR and none were positive (point prevalence = 0%). The 95%-exact upper limit confidence interval was 0.07% and 0.17% for Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus, respectivelyConclusions/significanceThe low human blood feeding rate in Ae. aegypti, high rate of feeding on mammals by Cx. quinquefasciatus, and the potential risk to transmission dynamics of arboviruses in highly urbanized areas of Northern Mexico is discussed.     

耐盐碱促生菌的筛选及性能

盐分是影响作物生长最重要的因素,使用能促进植物生长的耐盐碱促生菌减轻盐胁迫引起的损害是一种农业上的有效方法。文中从盐碱地筛选得到7株耐盐细菌,并考察筛选菌株的产胞外聚合物(EPS)能力、降碱能力和产吲哚-3-乙酸(IAA)能力。经综合评价选出1株优势菌株DB01,菌株DB01产EPS能力为0.21 g/g,降碱能力为8.7%,产IAA的能力为8.97 mg/L。菌株经16S rRNA鉴定为海水盐单胞菌Halomonas aquamarina,并且有抑制香蕉枯萎病、番茄早疫病、大豆疫霉病、小麦纹枯病病原菌的能力,同时能够在盐胁迫下促进小麦幼苗的发芽率和根长。海水盐单胞菌Halomonas aquamarina DB01可为土壤微生物资源开发利用和盐碱地改良提供理论依据。