Metformin protects prepubertal mice ovarian reserve against cyclophosphamide via regulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and Yap-1.

Background: Cyclophosphamide is a widely utilized chemotherapeutic agent for pediatric cancers, known to elicit adverse effects, including perturbation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR and Hippo signaling pathways, thereby diminishing ovarian reserve and fertility potential in females. Consequently, this investigation delves into the mitigative effects of metformin on cyclophosphamide-induced ovarian impairment in prepubertal mice.

Methods: Twenty-four 14-day-old NMRI female mice were distributed into four groups: Control (Cont), Cyclophosphamide (Cyc), Metformin (Met), and Metformin plus Cyclophosphamide (Met-Cyc).

Civilian pattern of injuries in armed conflicts - a systematic review.

Background: War causes severe suffering and harm to the civilian population. Knowledge about civilian injury patterns constitutes a part of the dimensioned planning and preparedness for medical care and civilian defence in times of war. This systematic review is conducted on request from The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare and includes civilian injury patterns in modern war.

Development of Mouse Preantral Follicle with Using Amniotic Membrane Extract-Loaded Hydrogels.

An artificial ovary based on the alginate (ALG) hydrogel has been widely implemented to preserve prepubertal female fertility. However, this platform is not fully capable of successful an ovary microenvironment simulation for follicle development, holding great potential for its improvement. Therefore, this experimental study aimed to evaluate the effect of an amniotic membrane extract (AME) -loaded hydrogel on the mouse preantral follicles development.

Cryopreservation of Limited Sperm Using A Combination of Sucrose and Taurine, Loaded on Two Different Devices, and Thawed at Two Different Temperatures.

Background: Cryopreservation of sperm is essential for patients with low sperm counts and couples undergoing infertility treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of Taurine (T) and Sucrose (S) in individual sperm cryopreservation utilizing cryotop and petri dish and thawing at 37 and 42°C.

Materials And Methods: In this experimental study, 17 normospermic semen samples were processed using the "Swim-up" procedure and progressively motile sperm were then isolated from these samples using an inverted microscope.

In-vitro generation of follicle-like structures from human germ cell-like cells derived from theca stem cell combined with ovarian somatic cells.

Background: The objective of this study was to induce the differentiation of human theca stem cells (hTSCs) into germ cell-like cells (hGCLCs) and assess their developmental progression following in vitro 3D culture with ovarian somatic cells within the follicle-like structures. To achieve this, the hTSCs were isolated from small antral follicles of three patients of varying ages and were then seeded in a differentiation medium for 40 days. The differentiated hGCLCs were subsequently aggregated with somatic ovarian cells (cumulus cells and hTSCs) in a ratio of 1:10 and cultured in a growth medium in a suspension culture dish.

Two New Cases of Bachmann-Bupp Syndrome Identified through the International Center for Polyamine Disorders.

Recent identification of four additional polyaminopathies, including Bachmann-Bupp syndrome, have benefited from previous research on Snyder-Robinson syndrome in order to advance from research to treatment more quickly. As a result of the discovery of these conditions, the potential for treatment within this pathway, and for other possible unidentified polyaminopathies, the International Center for Polyamine Disorders (ICPD) was created to help promote understanding of these conditions, research opportunities, and appropriate care for families. This case study provides insights from two new patients diagnosed with Bachmann-Bupp syndrome, further expanding our understanding of this ultra-rare condition, as well as a general discussion about other known polyaminopathies.

Co-culture of human cryopreserved fragmented ovarian tissue with theca progenitor cells derived from theca stem cells.

Purpose: Despite the significant advances in the in vitro development of human primordial follicles, it is still a challenging approach with great potential for improvements. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of a feeder layer of human theca progenitor cells (hTPCs) on the development of primordial follicles embedded in human ovarian tissue.

Methods: Fragments of frozen-thawed ovarian tissue were activated using the vanadate-derivative dipotassium bisperoxo (5-hydroxy-pyridine-2-carboxylic) oxovanadate (V) and kit ligand for 24 h.

Effect of Mechanical Micro-Vibrations on The Efficiency of Leopard Inter-Species Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer.

Objective: Scarcity of oocytes for assisted reproduction in endangered species can be bypassed by interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT). In Felids, domestic cat (Felis catus) oocytes can serve as recipients for the nucleus of the endangered Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor). However, oocyte maturation is still suboptimal in cats, whereas it has been reported to benefit from micro-vibration in non-felid species.

Epigenetic reprogramming in cloned mouse embryos following treatment with DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase inhibitors.

We examined the effects of DNA methyltransferase inhibitor - RG108, and histone deacetylase inhibitor - SAHA, on the reprogramming parameters of cloned mouse embryos produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer into oocytes. The programming parameters studied included dynamics of histone reacetylation, developmental rate, DNA methylation, and transcript levels of genes, all of which are pivotal to lineage specification and blastocyst formation. At the pronuclear stage, somatic nucleus-transplanted oocytes treated with 5 µM SAHA presented higher histone acetylation at H3K9, H3K14, H4K16 and H4K12, compared to untreated clones ( < 0.

Proteomics study reveals the molecular mechanisms underlying cryotolerance induced by mild sublethal stress in human sperm.

The preconditioning of human sperm with sublethal nitrosative stress before cryopreservation can potentially improve the thawed sperm quality. However, the underlying mechanisms behind this protective strategy are not entirely understood. We compared the cryosurvival of human sperm exposed to 0.

Effect of Maternal Age on Hippo Pathway Related Gene Expressions and Protein Localization Pattern in Human Embryos.

Objective: The Hippo pathway plays an important role in embryo development, and separation of trophectoderm (TE) and inner cell mass (ICM) cell lines. Therefore, this study investigated effect of maternal age on activity of Hippo pathway in human embryos.

Materials And Methods: In this experimental study, the developed up embryos to the blastocyst stage and the embryos whose growth stopped at the morula stage were collected from women aged 20-30 years old (young group, 94 embryos) and >37 years (old group, 89 embryos).

Formation and activation induction of primordial follicles using granulosa and cumulus cells conditioned media.

Fertility preservation of prepubertal girls subjected to invasive cancer therapy necessitates defining protocols for activation of isolated primordial follicles. Granulosa (GCs) and cumulus cells (CCs) play pivotal role in oocyte development. Although GCs and CCs share some similarities, they differ in growth factors production.

Establishment and characterization of human theca stem cells and their differentiation into theca progenitor cells.

In this study, we have characterized the human theca stem cells (hTSCs) and their differentiation into human theca progenitor cells (hTPCs). hTSCs were isolated from the theca layer of small antral follicles (3-5 mm in size). Alkaline phosphatase activity, cell cycle status, and cell surface markers were evaluated in hTSCs.

Human Ovarian Theca-Derived Multipotent Stem Cells Have The Potential to Differentiate into Oocyte-Like Cells In Vitro.

Objective: In this study, we have examined human theca stem cells (hTSCs) in vitro differentiation capacity into human oocyte like cells (hOLCs).

Materials And Methods: In this interventional experiment study, hTSCs were isolated from the theca layer of small antral follicles (3-5 mm in size). Isolated hTSCs were expanded and cultured in differentiation medium, containing 5% human follicular fluid, for 50 days.

Slow freezing versus vitrification technique for human ovarian tissue cryopreservation: An evaluation of histological changes, WNT signaling pathway and apoptotic genes expression.

This study compared slow freezing and vitrification of ovarian tissue by evaluation of histological changes, WNT signaling pathway and apoptotic genes expression. Ovarian tissue was obtained from women aging 27-38 years old. Ovarian cortex from each patient was divided into three pieces and randomly grouped as slow freezing, vitrification and control groups for investigation of WNT signaling gene expression and β-CATENIN presence as well as histological studies.

Comparative dynamics of 5-methylcytosine reprogramming and TET family expression during preimplantation mammalian development in mouse and sheep.

Despite previous assumption that paternal active DNA demethylation is an evolutionary conserved phenomenon in mammals, emerging studies in other species, particularly sheep, do not support this issue. Recently, ten eleven translocation (TET) enzymes have been suggested as intermediates in genome-wide DNA demethylation through the iterative conversion of five methylcytosine (5mC) into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC)/5-formylcytosine/5-carboxylcytosine (5caC) derivatives. This study investigated whether TET enzymes and 5mC derivatives are also involved in dynamic reprogramming of early sheep embryos derived by fertilization.

Improvement in in vitro fertilization rate, decrease in reactive oxygen species and spermatozoa death incidence in rams by dietary fish oil.

Our aim was to evaluate the effects of fish oil feeding on sperm classical parameters, level of reactive oxygen spices (ROS), spermatozoa death incidence and in vitro fertilization (IVF) rate in rams. We randomly assigned nine rams, into two experimental groups (isoenergetic and isonitrogenous rations with constant level of vitamin E supplement): control (CTR; n = 5) and fish oil (FO; n = 4, 35 g/day/ram). Diets were fed for 70 days during the physiological breeding season.

Optimization of The Electroporation Conditions for Transfection of Human Factor IX into The Goat Fetal Fibroblasts.

Objective: Electroporation is the most common method used for the transfection of DNA. Although this method has been attributed for various cell using different buffer compositions, the effects of DNA concentration on the transfection efficiency has not yet been studied. Here the correlation between the efficiency of electroporation reaction and increments of DNA concentration has been investigated.

Production of transgenic goats expressing human coagulation factor IX in the mammary glands after nuclear transfer using transfected fetal fibroblast cells.

There are growing numbers of recombinant proteins that have been expressed in milk. Thus one can consider the placement of any gene of interest under the control of the regulatory elements of a milk protein gene in a dairy farm animal. Among the transgene introducing techniques, only nuclear transfer (NT) allows 100 % efficiency and bypasses the mosaicism associated with counterpart techniques.

Synchronizing cell cycle of goat fibroblasts by serum starvation causes apoptosis.

Cell cycle stage and synchronization of donor cells are important factors influencing the success of somatic cell nuclear transfer. This study examined whether serum starvation has any effect on specific cell death. We also studied the effects of serum starvation, culture to confluence, and full confluency (confluent + 72 h) on cell cycle characteristics and apoptosis of goat dermal fibroblast cells.

Effect of mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) on resumption of meiosis, in vitro maturation and embryo development of immature mouse oocytes.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of MEHP on in vitro maturation of mouse oocytes and resulting embryo development. Denuded oocytes (DO) were cultured in maturation medium supplemented with 0, 50, 100, 200 and 400 microM levels of MEHP for 24 h. The matured oocytes then were fertilized and cultured for 4 days.