Publications by authors named "L Spate"
Article Synopsis
- Scientists have genetically modified pigs to have a condition called severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which makes them have weak immune systems and shorter lifespans.
- These SCID pigs are useful for research on how the immune system works and can help study diseases.
- A new method was tested where the immune systems of SCID piglets were improved by transplanting fetal bone, leading to healthier pigs that lived longer and could grow normally, which is great for future studies.
Article Synopsis
- PSEN1 is a gene associated with early onset Alzheimer's, and its inactivation in mice leads to developmental issues like vertebral malformations, but its function in other species is less understood.
- The study aimed to investigate the role of PSEN1 in vertebral development and neurodegeneration using genetically modified pigs created with CRISPR/Cas9 targeting exon 9 of the PSEN1 gene.
- Results showed that pigs with a complete PSEN1 mutation died shortly after birth and had severe skeletal defects, while those with at least one functioning allele developed normally, indicating PSEN1’s importance in development and providing a new model for Alzheimer’s research.
Conceptus estrogens and prostaglandins have long been considered the primary signals for maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP) in the pig. However, loss-of-function studies targeting conceptus aromatase genes (CYP19A1 and CYP19A2) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) indicated that conceptuses can not only signal MRP without estrogens or prostaglandins but can maintain early pregnancy. However, complete loss of estrogen production leads to abortion after day 25 of gestation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19 impacted abattoirs worldwide. The processing lines became a hotspot for the spread of COVID-19 resulting in plant restructuring and ultimately a critical loss of pig material for research. Commercial sources of pig oocytes are available but are costly and companies were already operating at a maximum capacity for supplying the oocyte needs around the United States.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Question: Does a chemically defined maturation medium supplemented with FGF2, LIF, and IGF1 (FLI) improve in vitro maturation (IVM) of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) obtained from children, adolescents, and young adults undergoing ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC)?
Summary Answer: Although FLI supplementation did not increase the incidence of oocyte meiotic maturation during human IVM, it significantly improved quality outcomes, including increased cumulus cell expansion and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) expression as well as enhanced transzonal projection retraction.
What Is Known Already: During OTC, COCs, and denuded oocytes from small antral follicles are released into the processing media. Recovery and IVM of these COCs is emerging as a complementary technique to maximize the fertility preservation potential of the tissue.