Oral administration of enhances intestinal immunity through inducing dendritic cell activation in suckling piglets.

(LAB) has been demonstrated to exert versatile beneficial effects on modulating intestinal immunity, increasing gut microbial diversity, promoting growth performance, and even preventing disease onset in pigs. However, the underlying mechanism of LAB-mediated gut immunity regulation in piglets remains unclear. In this study, we found that supplementation of LAB significantly increases serum TNF-α, ileum IL-4, and IL-10 levels compared with the control group.

Crosstalk between Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Oxidative Stress in Heat Exposure-Induced Apoptosis Is Dependent on the ATF4-CHOP-CHAC1 Signal Pathway in IPEC-J2 Cells.

The intestinal epithelium is susceptible to heat stress (HS), which leads to gut leakage and inflammation. However, the mechanisms underlying HS-induced intestine dysfunction have yet to be elucidated. We established an in vitro chronic heat exposure-induced intestinal injury of intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) exposed to high temperatures (43 °C) for 12 h.

Investigation of a Novel Acoustic Levitation Technique Using the Transition Period Between Acoustic Pulse Trains and Electrical Driving Signals.

Acoustic levitation is considered one of the most effective noncontact particle manipulation methods, along with aerodynamic, ferromagnetic, and optical levitation techniques. It is not restricted by the material properties of the target. However, existing acoustic levitation techniques have some drawbacks that limit their potential applications.

[Altitudinal phenotypic plasticity of leaf characteristics of ].

We investigated leaf tissue structure, leaf epidermis characteristics and chloroplast ultrastructure of at different altitudes (2300, 3200 and 3900 m) on the Qilian Mountain, using paraffin section, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy methods. The results showed that plant leaves were typical bifacial. With increasing altitude, the number of leaf epidermal hair reduced but the diameter of hair increased, with more compact of the cuticular wax layer on leaf lower epidermis.

Flexible TiO/PVDF/g-CN Nanocomposite with Excellent Light Photocatalytic Performance.

As the world faces water shortage and pollution crises, the development of novel visible light photocatalysts to purify water resources is urgently needed. Over the past decades, most of the reported photocatalysts have been in powder or granular forms, creating separation and recycling difficulties. To overcome these challenges, a flexible and recyclable heterostructured TiO/polyvinylidene fluoride/graphitic carbon nitride (TiO/PVDF/g-CN) composite was developed by combining electrospinning, sintering and hydrothermal methods.

Overview of the reporter genes and reporter mouse models.

Reporter genes are widely applied in biotechnology and biomedical research owning to their easy observation and lack of toxicity. Taking advantage of the reporter genes in conjunction with imaging technologies, a large number of reporter mouse models have been generated. Reporter mouse models provide systems that enable the studies of live cell imaging, cell lineage tracing, immunological research and cancers etc.

Human liver chimeric mouse model based on diphtheria toxin-induced liver injury.

Aim: To establish an inducible liver injury mouse model and transplant human hepatocytes to obtain liver-humanized mice.

Methods: We crossed three mouse strains, including albumin (Alb)-cre transgenic mice, inducible diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) transgenic mice and severe combined immune deficient (SCID)-beige mice, to create Alb-cre/DTR/SCID-beige (ADSB) mice, which coincidentally harbor Alb-cre and DTR transgenes and are immunodeficient. As the Cre expression is driven by the liver-specific promoter Alb (encoding ALB), the DTR stop signal flanked by two loxP sites can be deleted in the ADSB mice, resulting in DTR expression in the liver.

Expression profiling and functional characterization of miR-192 throughout sheep skeletal muscle development.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are evolutionarily conserved, small, non-coding RNAs that have emerged as key regulators of myogenesis. Here, we examined the miRNA expression profiles of developing sheep skeletal muscle using a deep sequencing approach. We detected 2,396 miRNAs in the sheep skeletal muscle tissues.

High persistence rate of hepatitis B virus in a hydrodynamic injection-based transfection model in C3H/HeN mice.

Aim: To optimize the viral persistence rate in a hydrodynamic injection (HI) based hepatitis B virus (HBV) transfection mouse model.

Methods: (1) 5-6-wk-old male C3H/HeN and C57BL/6 mice were hydrodynamically injected with 10 μg endotoxin-free pAAV/HBV1.2 plasmid DNA via the tail vein.

[Isolation and biological characterization of mesenchymal stem cells from Beijing fatty chicken fetal liver].

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCS) from chicken fetal liver are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate in vitro into various terminally differentiated cells. The majority of studies have focused on rats and mice now. Reports from other animals are less and analyses on domestic animals are few.

Dynamic analysis of Ca²+ level during bovine oocytes maturation and early embryonic development.

Mammalian oocyte maturation and early embryo development processes are Ca(2+)-dependent. In this study, we used confocal microscopy to investigate the distribution pattern of Ca(2+) and its dynamic changes in the processes of bovine oocytes maturation, in vitro fertilization (IVF), parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryo development. During the germinal vesicle (GV) and GV breakdown stage, Ca(2+) was distributed in the cortical ooplasm and throughout the oocytes from the MI to MII stage.

Electro-optic coupling of wide wavelength range in linear chirped-periodically poled lithium niobate and its applications.

We theoretically investigate the electro-optic coupling in an optical superlattice of linear chirped-periodically poled lithium niobate. It is found that the electro-optic coupling in such optical superlattice can work in a wide wavelength range. Some of examples, with bandwidths of 20, 40, 80, 120 nm, are demonstrated.

Identification of a new broad-spectrum CD8+ T cell epitope from over-expressed antigen COX-2 in esophageal carcinoma.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been found to be over-expressed in esophageal carcinoma (EC) and it could be considered as a potential tumor-associated antigen (TAA). In the present study, six candidate peptides from COX-2 were firstly predicted and synthesized. Among them, P(479) had the highest affinity and stability toward both HLA-A *0201 and HLA-A *03 molecules and it could significantly promote the IFN-gamma release.

[Effect of different choices and treatments with donor cells on reprogramming].

The donor nucleus must experienced the epigenetic modification of the process reprogramming and went back to the initial state after the donor cell was injected into the oocytes. If the reprogramming is not completed, the efficiency of cloning will be reduced. However, reprogramming of nucleus muct was not only embodied in its ability after it was transferred into the oocytes.

DNA damage induced by caffeic acid phenyl ester in the presence of Cu(II) ions: potential mechanism of its anticancer properties.

The prooxidant effect of caffeic acid phenyl ester (CAPE) and its structurally analogues on supercoiled pBR322 plasmid DNA strand breakage and calf thymus DNA damage in the presence of Cu(II) ions has been studied. It was found that CAPE exhibit remarkably higher activity in the DNA damage than the ones bearing no ortho-dihydroxyl functionality. Kinetic analysis by UV-visible and fluorescence spectra demonstrates that the formation of CAPE-Cu(II) complexes, the stabilization of oxidative intermediate derived from CAPE and Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox cycles, might be responsible for the DNA damage.

Effects of granulosa cell mitochondria transfer on the early development of bovine embryos in vitro.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of exogenous mitochondria obtained from granulosa cells on the development of bovine embryos in vitro. We classified cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) as good (G)- and poor (P)-quality oocytes based on cytoplasmic appearance and cumulus characteristics, and assessed mtDNA copy numbers in the G and P oocytes with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The mitochondria were isolated by fractionation and suspended in mitochondria injection buffer (MIB).

[The application of co-culture system on the in vitro development of bovine somatic nuclear transferred embryos].

To establish a co-culture system of nuclear transferred embryos in bovine, effects of co-culture cell types, passages and cryopreservation as well as addition of BFF or FBS were investigated. The results showed that embryos co-cultured with oviductal epithelial cell and granulosa cell achieved significantly higher blastocyst rate compared with the control group (P < 0.05) and co-cultured with oviductal epithelial cell had more embryo cell number than those with granulosa cell.

Neuropeptide FF receptors exert contractile activity via inhibition of nitric oxide release in the mouse distal colon.

Neuropeptide FF (NPFF) and NPVF, two closely NPFF related peptides, have different affinities for the two NPFF receptors (NPFF1 and NPFF2). To assess the peripheral effects of NPFF receptors in the gastrointestinal tract motility, NPFF and NPVF were tested in the mouse isolated distal colon. Both NPFF (1-15 microM) and NPVF (1-15 microM) dose-dependently caused significant colonic contractions.

Study in vitro and in vivo of nociceptin/orphanin FQ(1-13)NH2 analogues substituting N-Me-Gly for Gly2 or Gly3.

In the present study, two analogues containing N-Me-Gly (Sarcosine, Sar) were synthesized to further investigate the structural-activity relationships of orphanin FQ/nociceptin (OFQ/NC, NC). The replacement of Gly(2) or Gly(3) with Sar increased the flexibility and decreased the hydrophobicity of the N-terminal tetrapeptide. The activity of the analogues was investigated in a series of assays in vivo and in vitro.

Effects of nociceptin (13-17) in pain modulation at supraspinal level in mice.

This work was designed to observe the effects of nociceptin(13-17), one of the main metabolites of nociceptin (also termed orphanin FQ), in pain modulation at supraspinal level in mice. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.