Age-associated accumulation of RAB9 disrupts oocyte meiosis.

The critical role of some RAB family members in oocyte meiosis has been extensively studied, but their role in oocyte aging remains poorly understood. Here, we report that the vesicle trafficking regulator, RAB9 GTPase, is essential for oocyte meiosis and aging in humans and mice. RAB9 was mainly located at the meiotic spindle periphery and cortex during oocyte meiosis.

NSUN2 is critical for mouse oocyte meiosis and early embryonic development.

In Brief: The mechanism by which the NSUN2 mutation causes female infertility is still unclear. This study reveals the role and potential mechanism of NSUN2 in mouse oocyte maturation and early embryonic development, and provides a resource for elucidating female infertility with NSUN2 mutations.

Abstract: Biallelic variants in the NSUN2 gene cause a rare intellectual disability and female infertility in humans.

PFOS and F-53B disrupted inner cell mass development in mouse preimplantation embryo.

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is a perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) widely used in daily life. As its toxicity was confirmed, it has been gradually substituted by F-53B (chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl sulfonates, Cl-PFESAs) in China. PFOS exposure during prenatal development may hinder the development of preimplantation embryos, as indicated by recent epidemiological research and in vivo assays.

Machine learning-aided hydrothermal carbonization of biomass for coal-like hydrochar production: Parameters optimization and experimental verification.

Biomass to coal-like hydrochar via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a promising route for sustainability development. Yet conventional experimental method is time-consuming and costly to optimize HTC conditions and characterize hydrochar. Herein, machine learning was employed to predict the fuel properties of hydrochar.

CO-mediated catalytic upcycling of plastic waste for H-rich syngas and carbon nanomaterials.

To establish a reliable disposal platform of plastic waste, this work developed a novel dual-stage CO-medaited decomposition-catalysis route by applying multi-functional zeolite-supported bimetallic catalysts. Catalytic upcycling of plastic was first performed in Ar as a reference environment. Bimetallic Fe-Co/ZSM5 catalyst achieved the highest gas yield (53.

Improving hydrogen-rich gas production from biomass catalytic steam gasification over metal-doping porous biochar.

Biomass to green H is a new route to produce sustainable energy. This study aimed to boost H-enriched gas production via gasification-catalytic steam reforming (GCSR) process of wheat straw (WS) over Ni, Fe, or Zn-doped carbon materials (MDCMs). Initially, steam injection rate (1 g/min) and residence time (15 min) was optimized based on the tradeoff between energy consumption and H-rich gas generation.

MoS/NiSe/rGO Multiple-Interfaced Sandwich-like Nanostructures as Efficient Electrocatalysts for Overall Water Splitting.

Constructing a heterogeneous interface using different components is one of the effective measures to achieve the bifunctionality of nanocatalysts, while synergistic interactions between multiple interfaces can further optimize the performance of single-interface nanocatalysts. The non-precious metal nanocatalysts MoS/NiSe/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) bilayer sandwich-like nanostructure with multiple well-defined interfaces is prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. MoS and rGO are layered nanostructures with clear boundaries, and the NiSe nanoparticles with uniform size are sandwiched between both layered nanostructures.

Insufficient HtrA2 causes meiotic defects in aging germinal vesicle oocytes.

Background: High-temperature requirement protease A2 (HtrA2/Omi) is a mitochondrial chaperone that is highly conserved from bacteria to humans. It plays an important role in mitochondrial homeostasis and apoptosis. In this study, we investigated the role of HtrA2 in mouse oocyte maturation.

Metal Halides for High-Capacity Energy Storage.

High-capacity electrochemical energy storage systems are more urgently needed than ever before with the rapid development of electric vehicles and the smart grid. The most efficient way to increase capacity is to develop electrode materials with low molecular weights. The low-cost metal halides are theoretically ideal cathode materials due to their advantages of high capacity and redox potential.

Gelatin Microspheres Loaded with Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells Promote Acute Full-Thickness Skin Wound Healing and Regeneration in Mice.

At present, there is an urgent need to develop a novel and practical therapeutic approach to accelerate the healing of acute wounds. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy is emerging as a promising therapeutic approach for acute skin wounds. However, there are still challenges in clinical application of this strategy, such as low survivability, low retention time, and less engraftment in skin wounds.

Dual-channel lanthanide-doped nanoprobe for reliable multi-signal ratiometric detection of HS in whole blood.

Wavelength-dependent absorbance of blood has impeded the development of fluorescence biodetection in whole blood. Here, by replacing the fluorescence working signal with a temperature signal, reliable HS detection was performed in samples of whole blood. The developed system was based on a dual-channel lanthanide-doped nanoprobe, which further allowed precise serodiagnosis of acute pancreatitis.

Generation of C-to-G transversion in mouse embryos via CG editors.

Base editors (BEs) are efficient and precise tools for generating single base conversions in living organisms. While most BE systems are limited in mediating C-to-T or A-to-G conversions, recently developed C-to-G base editors (CGBEs) could produce C-to-G transversions. CGBEs convert cytosine within the editing window to abasic intermediates, which would be replaced with any base after base excision repair (BER).

Two mutations in TUBB8 cause developmental arrest in human oocytes and early embryos.

Research Question: How can the effect of genetic mutations that may cause primary female infertility be evaluated?

Design: Patients and their family members underwent whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing to detect the infertility-causing gene and inheritance pattern. To study the function of mutant proteins in vitro, vectors containing wild-type or mutant TUBB8 cDNA were constructed for transient expression in HeLa cells, and in-vitro transcribed mRNA were used for microinjection in germinal vesicle-stage mouse oocytes. Immunofluorescence staining was used to observe the microtubule structure in HeLa cells or meiotic spindle in mouse oocytes.

Single AAV-mediated CRISPR-Nme2Cas9 efficiently reduces mutant hTTR expression in a transgenic mouse model of transthyretin amyloidosis.

Transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis is a hereditary life-threatening disease characterized by deposition of amyloid fibrils. The main causes of TTR amyloidosis are mutations in the TTR gene that lead to the production of misfolded TTR protein. Reducing the production of toxic protein in the liver is a validated strategy to treat TTR amyloidosis.

Methylation silencing and reactivation of exogenous genes in lentivirus-mediated transgenic mice.

Taking advantage of their ability to integrate their genomes into the host genome, lentiviruses have been used to rapidly produce transgenic mice in biomedical research. In most cases, transgenes delivered by lentiviral vectors have resisted silencing mediated by epigenetic modifications in mice. However, some studies revealed that methylation caused decreased transgene expression in mice.

Absorption mechanisms of lead in aqueous solutions with hydrous manganese dioxide.

Hydrous manganese dioxide (HMO) has been synthesized through a facile method. It is found that HMO has an excellent Pb(II) adsorption performance, and an equilibrium adsorption capacity of 127 mg g is expected under room conditions. The sorption capacity is strongly dependent on pH when pH < 7.

Cationic Polymer-Mediated CRISPR/Cas9 Plasmid Delivery for Genome Editing.

Delivery of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/CRISPR-associated protein-9 (Cas9) represents a major hurdle for successful clinical translation of genome editing tools. Owing to the large size of plasmids that encode Cas9 and single-guide RNA (sgRNA), genome editing efficiency mediated by current delivery carriers is still unsatisfactory to meet the requirement for its real applications. Herein, cationic polymer polyethyleneimine-β-cyclodextrin (PC), known to be efficient for small plasmid transfection, is reported to likewise mediate efficient delivery of plasmid encoding Cas9 and sgRNA.

Analysis of hpf1 expression and function in early embryonic development of zebrafish.

About 70% of zebrafish (Danio rerio) genes are orthologues of the human's, which are of great interests, but still largely unknown for their functions. Recently, a report on human histone PARylation factor 1 (HPF1/C4orf27) showed that it is involved in DNA damage response along with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1). However, its function in living organism remains unclear.