OCT4 regulates WNT/β-catenin signaling and prevents mesoendoderm differentiation by repressing EOMES in porcine pluripotent stem cells.

The regulatory network between signaling pathways and transcription factors (TFs) is crucial for the maintenance of pluripotent stem cells. However, little is known about how the key TF OCT4 coordinates signaling pathways to regulate self-renewal and lineage differentiation of porcine pluripotent stem cells (pPSCs). Here, we explored the function of OCT4 in pPSCs by transcriptome and chromatin accessibility analysis.

Feed plants, ethnoveterinary medicine, and biocultural values: insights on the Luchuan pig from Hakka communities in China.

Background: The Luchuan pig is an indigenous breed from Luchuan County, China, with cultural and genetic significance. However, traditional knowledge and conservation status have not been systematically documented.

Methods: Using ethnobiological methods, we surveyed 72 Luchuan pig farmers in 7 townships during 2021-2023.

Nicotine exposure disrupts placental development via the Notch signaling pathway.

In Brief: Normal gene expression during early embryonic development and in the placenta is crucial for a successful pregnancy. Nicotine can disrupt normal gene expression during development, leading to abnormal embryonic and placental development.

Abstract: Nicotine is a common indoor air pollutant that is present in cigarette fumes.

Arsenite exposure disturbs maternal-to-zygote transition by attenuating H3K27ac during mouse preimplantation development.

Arsenite is commonly used as an insecticide, antiseptic and herbicide. It can enter the food chain via through soil contamination, and harm human health, including the reproductive systems. Early embryos, as the initial stage of mammalian life, are very sensitive to the environmental toxins and pollutants.

Enhanced CO Photoreduction through Spontaneous Charge Separation in End-Capping Assembly of Heterostructured Covalent-Organic Frameworks.

It is well known that charge separation is crucial for efficient photocatalytic solar conversion. Although some covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) exhibit visible-light harvest, the large exciton binding energies reduce their photocatalytic efficiencies. Herein, we developed a novel method to post-treat the olefin-linked COFs with end-capping polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for spontaneous charge separation.

Hierarchical Accumulation of Histone Variant H2A.Z Regulates Transcriptional States and Histone Modifications in Early Mammalian Embryos.

Early embryos undergo extensive epigenetic reprogramming to achieve gamete-to-embryo transition, which involves the loading and removal of histone variant H2A.Z on chromatin. However, how does H2A.

Selective autophagic degradation of ACLY (ATP citrate lyase) maintains citrate homeostasis and promotes oocyte maturation.

Macroautophagy/autophagy is a cellular and energy homeostatic mechanism that contributes to maintain the number of primordial follicles, germ cell survival, and anti-ovarian aging. However, it remains unknown whether autophagy in granulosa cells affects oocyte maturation. Here, we show a clear tendency of reduced autophagy level in human granulosa cells from women of advanced maternal age, implying a potential negative correlation between autophagy levels and oocyte quality.

ATG7-mediated autophagy facilitates embryonic stem cell exit from naive pluripotency and marks commitment to differentiation.

Macroautophagy/autophagy is a conserved cellular mechanism to degrade unneeded cytoplasmic proteins and organelles to recycle their components, and it is critical for embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and somatic cell reprogramming. Whereas autophagy is essential for early development of embryos, no information exists regarding its functions during the transition from naive-to-primed pluripotency. Here, by using an transition model of ESCs to epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs), we find that dynamic changes in ATG7-dependent autophagy are critical for the naive-to-primed transition, and are also necessary for germline specification.

TDG is a pig-specific epigenetic regulator with insensitivity to H3K9 and H3K27 demethylation in nuclear transfer embryos.

Pig cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) frequently undergoes incomplete epigenetic remodeling during the maternal-to-zygotic transition, which leads to a significant embryonic loss before implantation. Here, we generated the first genome-wide landscapes of histone methylation in pig SCNT embryos. Excessive H3K9me3 and H3K27me3, but not H3K4me3, were observed in the genomic regions with unfaithful embryonic genome activation and donor-cell-specific gene silencing.

CHIR99021 and rpIL6 promote porcine parthenogenetic embryo development and blastocyst quality.

Signaling pathways and transcription factors are involved in porcine embryonic development. Here, we demonstrate that glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) inhibitor, CHIR99021 and recombinant porcine interleukin-6 (rpIL6) significantly promote porcine parthenogenetic blastocyst formation (49.23 ± 8.

Oocytes and hypoxanthine orchestrate the G2-M switch mechanism in ovarian granulosa cells.

In mammalian growing follicles, oocytes are arrested at the diplotene stage (which resembles the G2/M boundary in mitosis), while the granulosa cells (GCs) continue to proliferate during follicular development, reflecting a cell cycle asynchrony between oocytes and GCs. Hypoxanthine (Hx), a purine present in the follicular fluid, has been shown to induce oocytes meiotic arrest, although its role in GC proliferation remains ill-defined. Here, we demonstrate that Hx indiscriminately prevents G2-to-M phase transition in porcine GCs.

Induction of autophagy promotes porcine parthenogenetic embryo development under low oxygen conditions.

Autophagy plays an important role in embryo development; however, only limited information is available on how autophagy specifically regulates embryo development, especially under low oxygen culture conditions. In this study we used parthenogenetic activation (PA) of porcine embryos to test the hypothesis that a low oxygen concentration (5%) could promote porcine embryo development by activating autophagy. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that low oxygen tension activated autophagy and alleviated oxidative stress in porcine PA embryos.

The FSH-HIF-1α-VEGF Pathway Is Critical for Ovulation and Oocyte Health but Not Necessary for Follicular Growth in Mice.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)-induced growth of ovarian follicles is independent of follicular vascularization. Recent evidence has indicated that follicular vascularization is critical to ovarian follicle development and survival. FSH, a gonadotropin that induces follicular growth and development, also acts as the major survival factor for antral follicles.

FSH prevents porcine granulosa cells from hypoxia-induced apoptosis via activating mitophagy through the HIF-1α-PINK1-Parkin pathway.

In developing follicles, the granulosa cells (GCs) live in a hypoxic environment due to the devoid of blood supply. Upon hypoxic conditions, several types of mammalian cells have been reported to undergo apoptosis. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is known as the primary survival factor for antral follicles by preventing GCs apoptosis.

Resveratrol delays postovulatory aging of mouse oocytes through activating mitophagy.

Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene, RSV) is a natural potential anti-aging polyphenolic compound frequently used as a nutritional supplement against several diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms by which resveratrol regulates postovulatory aging of oocytes are still insufficiently known. In this study, we found that resveratrol could delay postovulatory aging and improve developmental competence of oocytes through activating selective mitophagy in the mouse.

Melatonin protects against defects induced by malathion during porcine oocyte maturation.

Malathion (MAL) is a common organophosphorus pesticide and affects both animal and human reproduction. However, the mechanisms regarding how MAL affects the mammalian oocyte quality and how to prevent it have not been fully investigated. In this study, we used porcine oocyte as a model and proved that MAL impaired porcine oocyte quality in a dose-dependent manner during maturation.

Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate disturbs mouse embryonic development by inducing apoptosis and abnormal DNA methylation.

Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) is a kind of additive flame retardants (FRs) and was found to affect early embryonic development in zebrafish; however, there are few studies to investigate whether TDCPP will disturb the development of early mouse embryos. In our studies, we used mouse embryos as models to study the toxicology of TDCPP on the early embryos. The results showed that TDCPP disturbed the development of early mouse embryos in a dose-dependent manner.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α-dependent autophagy plays a role in glycolysis switch in mouse granulosa cells.

Autophagy is an essential cellular mechanism that degrades cytoplasmic proteins and organelles to recycle their components. Here we showed that autophagy was essential for the glycolysis switch and energy homeostasis in mouse granulosa cells under hypoxic condition. Our data indicated that hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) could be largely increased in developing follicles and this remarkable upregulation of HIF-1α triggered cell autophagy and glucose uptake.

Administration of follicle-stimulating hormone induces autophagy via upregulation of HIF-1α in mouse granulosa cells.

Recent studies reported the important role of autophagy in follicular development. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the effect of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on mouse granulosa cells (MGCs).

Cypermethrin inhibits interleukin-6-induced androgen receptor transactivation through signal transducer and activator of transcription 3.

The insecticide cypermethrin has been considered as an endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with anti-androgenic activity by interfering with interleukin-6 (IL-6) - induced ligand-independent AR signaling. The purpose of this study was to clarify whether the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was involved in the antagonism effect of cypermethrin. In this study, the Western blot was to test the level of STAT3 phosphorylation and the mammalian two-hybrid assay was developed to assess the AR-STAT3 interaction.

The co-regulators SRC-1 and SMRT are involved in interleukin-6-induced androgen receptor activation.

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) can be stimulated by interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the absence of androgens to induce prostate cancer progression. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the co-activator steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1) and co-repressor silencing mediator for retinoid and thyroid hormone receptors (SMRT) are involved in IL-6-induced AR activation.

Methods: The effects of IL-6 on LNCaP cell proliferation were monitored using real-time cell analysis (RTCA) iCELLigence system.