Coprophagia in early life tunes expression of immune genes after weaning in rabbit ileum.

Coprophagia by suckling rabbits, i.e. ingestion of feces from their mother, reduces mortality after weaning.

Alteration of the embryonic microenvironment and sex-specific responses of the preimplantation embryo related to a maternal high-fat diet in the rabbit model.

The maternal metabolic environment can be detrimental to the health of the offspring. In a previous work, we showed that maternal high-fat (HH) feeding in rabbit induced sex-dependent metabolic adaptation in the fetus and led to metabolic syndrome in adult offspring. As early development representing a critical window of susceptibility, in the present work we aimed to explore the effects of the HH diet on the oocyte, preimplantation embryo and its microenvironment.

Germline genetic factors in the pathogenesis of myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are clonal hematological malignancies that lead to overproduction of mature myeloid cells. They are due to acquired mutations in genes encoding for AK2, MPL and CALR that result in the activation of the cytokine receptor/JAK2 signaling pathway. In addition, it exists germline variants that can favor the initiation of the disease or may affect its phenotype.

Reprogramming of rabbit induced pluripotent stem cells toward epiblast and chimeric competency using Krüppel-like factors.

Rabbit induced pluripotent stem cells (rbiPSCs) possess the characteristic features of primed pluripotency as defined in rodents and primates. In the present study, we reprogrammed rbiPSCs using human Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) 2 and 4 and cultured them in a medium supplemented with fetal calf serum and leukemia inhibitory factor. These cells (designated rbEKA) were propagated by enzymatic dissociation for at least 30 passages, during which they maintained a normal karyotype.

A Panel of Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Reveals the Variety and Dynamic of Pluripotent States in Rabbits.

Conventional rabbit embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines are derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of pre-implantation embryos using methods and culture conditions that are established for primate ESCs. In this study, we explored the capacity of the rabbit ICM to give rise to ESC lines using conditions similar to those utilized to generate naive ESCs in mice. On single-cell dissociation and culture in fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2)-free, serum-supplemented medium, rabbit ICMs gave rise to ESC lines lacking the DNA-damage checkpoint in the G1 phase like mouse ESCs, and with a pluripotency gene expression profile closer to the rabbit ICM/epiblast profiles.

Bovine Oviduct Epithelial Cells Dedifferentiate Partly in Culture, While Maintaining their Ability to Improve Early Embryo Development Rate and Quality.

There are convincing arguments to suggest that the success of early reproductive events is reliant on a satisfactory dialogue between gametes-embryo and the oviduct epithelium. The aim of this study was to develop and characterize an in vitro model to study these interactions. Cattle zygotes produced in vitro were cultured in either SOF or TCM-199 in the presence or absence of bovine oviduct cell monolayers (BOEC), under 20% or 5% O2 .

Genome-wide immunity studies in the rabbit: transcriptome variations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells after in vitro stimulation by LPS or PMA-Ionomycin.

Background: Our purpose was to obtain genome-wide expression data for the rabbit species on the responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after in vitro stimulation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and ionomycin. This transcriptome profiling was carried out using microarrays enriched with immunity-related genes, and annotated with the most recent data available for the rabbit genome.

Results: The LPS affected 15 to 20 times fewer genes than PMA-Ionomycin after both 4 hours (T4) and 24 hours (T24), of in vitro stimulation, in comparison with mock-stimulated PBMCs.

Early bovine embryos regulate oviduct epithelial cell gene expression during in vitro co-culture.

In mammals, the oviduct may participate to the regulation of early embryo development. In vitro co-culture of early bovine embryos with bovine oviduct epithelial cells (BOEC) has been largely used to mimic the maternal environment. However, the mechanisms of BOEC action have not been clearly elucidated yet.

Contrasting transcriptome landscapes of rabbit pluripotent stem cells in vitro and in vivo.

Pluripotency refers to the ability for a single cell to differentiate into the three embryonic germ layers. In mice, two types of pluripotent stem cells with different features have been obtained in vitro. Naive pluripotent stem cells are derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of early blastocyst (ESCs) or reprogrammed from somatic cells (iPSCs), while primed pluripotent stem cells are derived from late epiblast (EpiSCs).

Vitrification alters rabbit foetal placenta at transcriptomic and proteomic level.

Although numerous studies have demonstrated that cryopreservation alters gene expression, less is known about those embryos that implanted successfully and continued in gestation. To raise the question of the neutrality of this technique, we examine the effects of vitrification through gestation in rabbit before and after the implantation. We monitored the distribution of losses of 569 vitrified morulae, observing that embryos which reach the last pre-implantatory stage are able to implant.

[Use of an in vitro model in bovine to evidence a functional and molecular dialogue between preimplantation embryo and oviduct epithelial cells].

Beyond being a pipe between ovary and uterus, the oviduct is an active player in different aspects of early reproductive processes, in particular in the transport of embryos to the site of implantation and the regulation of its early development. Different studies evidenced a communication between oviduct and early embryo at the molecular and functional levels. Since the study of these interactions is difficult in vivo, different in vitro systems have been developed to mimic the maternal milieu during early development.

Induced pluripotent stem cells derived from rabbits exhibit some characteristics of naïve pluripotency.

Not much is known about the molecular and functional features of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in rabbits. To address this, we derived and characterized 2 types of rabbit PSCs from the same breed of New Zealand White rabbits: 4 lines of embryonic stem cells (rbESCs), and 3 lines of induced PSCs (rbiPSCs) that were obtained by reprogramming adult skin fibroblasts. All cell lines required fibroblast growth factor 2 for their growth and proliferation.