Sperm penetration at the maturing metaphase I stage can trigger oocyte activation in a mouse model.

Research Question: Can spermatozoa penetrate maturing metaphase I (MI) oocytes, and render subsequent development following conventional IVF in a mouse model?

Design: ICR mice were used in this study. Metaphase II (MII) cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) harvested 15 h after injection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) were used for IVF as the control group (Group 1). In the treatment group (Group 2), maturing MI COC harvested 7 h after HCG injection were used for IVF.

Development of an individualized stable and force-reducing lower-limb exoskeleton.

In this study, an individualized and stable passive-control lower-limb exoskeleton robot was developed. Users' joint angles and the center of pressure (CoP) of one of their soles were input into a convolutional neural network (CNN)-long short-term memory (LSTM) model to evaluate and adjust the exoskeleton control scheme. The CNN-LSTM model predicted the fitness of the control scheme and output the results to the exoskeleton robot, which modified its control parameters accordingly to enhance walking stability.

Cytotoxicity effect and transcriptome analysis of PCV3-infected cells revealed potential viral pathogenic mechanisms.

Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) has become an important pathogen in the global swine industry and poses a threat to pig health, but its pathogenic mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we constructed an innovative, linear infectious clone of PCV3 for rescuing the virus, and explored the transcriptome of infected cells to gain insights into its pathogenic mechanisms. Subsequently, an in vivo experiment was conducted to evaluate the pathogenicity of the rescued virus in pig.

The IMPDH cytoophidium couples metabolism and fetal development in mice.

The cytoophidium is an evolutionarily conserved subcellular structure formed by filamentous polymers of metabolic enzymes. In vertebrates, inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), which catalyses the rate-limiting step in guanosine triphosphate (GTP) biosynthesis, is one of the best-known cytoophidium-forming enzymes. Formation of the cytoophidium has been proposed to alleviate the inhibition of IMPDH, thereby facilitating GTP production to support the rapid proliferation of certain cell types such as lymphocytes, cancer cells and pluripotent stem cells (PSCs).

Exploring the surface epitope and nuclear localization analysis of porcine circovirus type 3 capsid protein.

Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3) is a newly emerging virus associated with porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS) and reproductive disorders, impacting global pig populations. Porcine circoviruses contain two major open reading frames (ORFs), and the ORF2 encodes the viral capsid protein (Cap). Cap is the most antigenic structural protein and an ideal candidate for the development of vaccines and diagnostic reagents.

ZSCAN4 interacts with PARP1 to promote DNA repair in mouse embryonic stem cells.

Background: In eukaryotic cells, DNA double strand breaks (DSB) are primarily repaired by canonical non-homologous end joining (c-NHEJ), homologous recombination (HR) and alternative NHEJ (alt-NHEJ). Zinc finger and SCAN domain containing 4 (ZSCAN4), sporadically expressed in 1-5% mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), is known to regulate genome stability by promoting HR.

Results: Here we show that ZSCAN4 promotes DNA repair by acting with Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1), which is a key member of the alt-NHEJ pathway.

Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes of Oral Cancers Using Transoral Robotic Surgery in an Endemic Region.

Oral cancer poses a major health challenge in Taiwan, consistently ranking among the highest globally in both incidence and cancer-related mortality. Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) has potential advantages over open surgery, but its long-term oncologic outcomes are not well established. In this study, we sought to elucidate the role of TORS in improving treatment outcomes among oral cancer patients.

Effect on cell survival and cytoophidium assembly of the adRP-10-related IMPDH1 missense mutation Asp226Asn.

Inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase 1 (IMPDH1) is a critical enzyme in the retina, essential for the correct functioning of photoreceptor cells. Mutations in IMPDH1 have been linked to autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa subtype 10 (adRP-10), a genetic eye disorder. Some of these mutations such as the Asp226Asn (D226N) lead to the assembly of large filamentous structures termed cytoophidia.

Prediction and analysis of atmospheric visibility in five terrain types with artificial intelligence.

Scattering visiometers are widely used to measure atmospheric visibility; however, visibility is difficult to measure accurately because the extinction coefficient decays exponentially with visual range according to the Koschmid's law. Moreover, models for predicting visibility are lacking due to the lack of accurate visibility observations to verify. This study formulated an artificial intelligence method for measuring atmospheric visibility in five topographical regions: hills, basins, plains, alluvial plains, and rift valleys.

Cancer survivorship and risk of pregnancy complications, adverse obstetric outcomes, and maternal morbidities in female adolescents and young adults: a nationwide population-based study from Taiwan.

Background: Cancer treatment in female adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors (i.e., those diagnosed between 15 and 39 years of age) may adversely affect multiple bodily functions, including the reproductive system.

Structural basis of human PRPS2 filaments.

Background: PRPP synthase (PRPS) transfers the pyrophosphate groups from ATP to ribose-5-phosphate to produce 5-phosphate ribose-1-pyrophosphate (PRPP), a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of several metabolites including nucleotides, dinucleotides and some amino acids. There are three PRPS isoforms encoded in human genome. While human PRPS1 (hPRPS1) and human PRPS2 (hPRPS2) are expressed in most tissues, human PRPS3 (hPRPS3) is exclusively expressed in testis.

The impacts of air quality and secondary organic aerosols formation on traffic accidents in heavy fog-haze weather.

This study estimated changes in the levels of three components of regional haze, namely fine particulate matter (PM), relative humidity (RH), and secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), at the time of two severe traffic accidents on a coastal expressway and a freeway in the Jianan Plain in southwestern Taiwan to understand the impact of weather and air quality factors on the low visibility. Monitoring data and surveillance images from four nearby air quality monitoring stations were collected to determine the precise causes of the poor visibility-related accidents. The study applied a haze extraction method to the images to achieve demisting, and the processed data were used to assess the relationship between the haze components and visibility during the accidents.

Survival Motor Neuron Enhances Pluripotent Gene Expression and Facilitates Cell Reprogramming.

Survival motor neuron (SMN) plays important roles in snRNP assembly and mRNA splicing. Deficiency of SMN causes spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a leading genetic disease causing childhood mortality. Previous studies have shown that SMN regulates stem cell self-renewal and pluripotency in and mouse and is abundantly expressed in mouse embryonic stem cells.

Molecular crowding facilitates bundling of IMPDH polymers and cytoophidium formation.

The cytoophidium is a unique type of membraneless compartment comprising of filamentous protein polymers. Inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of de novo GTP biosynthesis and plays critical roles in active cell metabolism. However, the molecular regulation of cytoophidium formation is poorly understood.

Filamentation modulates allosteric regulation of PRPS.

Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) is a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides, histidine, tryptophan, and cofactors NAD and NADP. Abnormal regulation of PRPP synthase (PRPS) is associated with human disorders, including Arts syndrome, retinal dystrophy, and gouty arthritis. Recent studies have demonstrated that PRPS can form filamentous cytoophidia in eukaryotes.

Structural basis of dynamic P5CS filaments.

The bifunctional enzyme Δ-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS) is vital to the synthesis of proline and ornithine, playing an essential role in human health and agriculture. Pathogenic mutations in the P5CS gene (ALDH18A1) lead to neurocutaneous syndrome and skin relaxation connective tissue disease in humans, and P5CS deficiency seriously damages the ability to resist adversity in plants. We have recently found that P5CS forms cytoophidia in vivo and filaments in vitro.

Establishment of an appropriate method for determining multiple heterocyclic amines in soy products processed with various methods.

A method using UPLC-MS/MS and a core-shell C18 column was developed to simultaneously determine 21 heterocyclic amines (HAs) in 15 min. Appropriate QuEChERS conditions were also established to conveniently extract HAs from soy products cooked with various methods. These conditions presented good analytical performance; limit of detection, limit of quantification, recovery (%), repeatability (coefficient of variation (CV) %) and intermediate precision (CV%) were 0.

Structural basis for ligand binding modes of CTP synthase.

Cytidine triphosphate synthase (CTPS), which comprises an ammonia ligase domain and a glutamine amidotransferase domain, catalyzes the final step of de novo CTP biosynthesis. The activity of CTPS is regulated by the binding of four nucleotides and glutamine. While glutamine serves as an ammonia donor for the ATP-dependent conversion of UTP to CTP, the fourth nucleotide GTP acts as an allosteric activator.

CTPS forms the cytoophidium in zebrafish.

Cytidine triphosphate synthase (CTPS) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of de novo CTP biosynthesis. An intracellular structure of CTPS, the cytoophidium, has been found in many organisms including prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Formation of the cytoophidium has been suggested to regulate the activity and stability of CTPS and may participate in certain physiological events.

IMPDH forms the cytoophidium in zebrafish.

Inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in de novo guanine nucleotide biosynthesis. Its activity is negatively regulated by the binding of GTP. IMPDH can form a membraneless subcellular structure termed the cytoophidium in response to certain changes in the metabolic status of the cell.

CTPS and IMPDH form cytoophidia in developmental thymocytes.

The cytoophidium, a filamentous structure formed by metabolic enzymes, has emerged as a novel regulatory machinery for certain proteins. The rate-limiting enzymes of de novo CTP and GTP synthesis, cytidine triphosphate synthase (CTPS) and inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), are the most characterized cytoophidium-forming enzymes in mammalian models. Although the assembly of CTPS cytoophidia has been demonstrated in various organisms including multiple human cancers, a systemic survey for the presence of CTPS cytoophidia in mammalian tissues in normal physiological conditions has not yet been reported.

Histone acetyltransferase p300 mediates the upregulation of CTEN induced by the activation of EGFR signaling in cancer cells.

Upregulation of C-terminal tensin-like (CTEN) is induced by the activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling and mainly contributes to cancer cell migration and invasion. CTEN is known as a downstream target of the EGFR-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway but the regulatory mechanism underlying EGFR signaling regulates the increased expression of CTEN is still incompletely understood. In this study, we investigated the epigenetic regulation of CTEN gene transcription upon EGFR activation.