Skin wound healing assessment via an optimized wound array model in miniature pigs.

An appropriate animal wound model is urgently needed to assess wound dressings, cell therapies, and pharmaceutical agents. Minipig was selected owing to similarities with humans in body size, weight, and physiological status. Different wound sizes (0.

Quality assessment of cryopreserved Portuguese oyster (Crassostrea angulata) sperm through ultrastructural and flow cytometry analysis.

We investigated the effects of cryopreservation on the quality of Portuguese oyster (Crassostrea angulata) sperm, which were examined before and after freezing; sperm motility, fertilizing capacity, and ultrastructural morphology were analyzed. The motility percentage and fertilizing capacity of the cryopreserved sperm (mean ± standard error) were 16% ± 1% and 17% ± 8%, respectively. In the pre-freezing sperm, these were 58% ± 2% and 76% ± 4%, respectively.

Sperm ultrastructure of Ruditapes variegata and Tapes literatus (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Veneridae, Tapetinae) from Pescadores, Taiwan.

In the present study, we have investigated the ultrastructures of the mature gonadal spermatozoa of R. variegata and T. literatus and presented comparisons with the Manila clam, R.

Derivation of porcine pluripotent stem cells for biomedical research.

Pluripotent stem cells including embryonic stem cells (ESCs), embryonic germ cells (EGCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are capable of self-renew and limitlessly proliferating in vitro with undifferentiated characteristics. They are able to differentiate in vitro, spontaneously or responding to suitable signals, into cells of all three primary germ layers. Consequently, these pluripotent stem cells will be valuable sources for cell replacement therapy in numerous disorders.

Differential gene expression of bone morphogenetic protein 15 and growth differentiation factor 9 during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes and early embryos.

Bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) and growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) belong to the TGF-beta superfamily and are involved in the regulation of folliculogenesis. Though there are many reports concerning the expression and regulation of GDF9 in the process of oocyte maturation, expression of BMP15 during oocyte maturation is still not clearly understood. It has been reported that BMP15 and GDF9 expression is important in folliculogeneiss and that the regulation of these two proteins is complex and species-specific.