Lacticaseibacillus paracasei K71 Alleviates UVB-Induced Skin Barrier Dysfunction by Attenuating Inflammation via Increased IL-10 Production in Mice.

Scope: Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation causes skin barrier dysfunction, leading to decreased water-holding capacity, impaired epidermal barrier function, and increased skin thickness. This study investigates the protective effects of oral administration of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei K71 against skin barrier dysfunction in UVB-irradiated mice.

Methods And Results: Mice are fed diets with or without K71 and irradiated with UVB three times a week for 12 weeks.

Effects of heat-killed subsp. 327 intake on defecation in healthy volunteers: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study.

subsp. 327 (. 327) was isolated from brown rice.

Long-Term Diet Supplementation with K71 Prevents Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Senescence-Accelerated Mouse Prone 8.

This study aimed to assess the suppressive effect of long-term diet supplementation with strains on cognitive decline in the senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) model. For 43 weeks, fourteen-week-old female SAMP8 mice were fed a standard diet containing 0.05% (/) subsp.

Effects of intake of subsp. 327 on skin conditions: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study in women.

Lactic acid bacteria are gut flora that play key roles in intestinal homeostasis, which may affect a variety of physiological functions. Our preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trials have suggested that intake of heat-killed subsp. 327 (designated L.

Anti-bacterial factors secreted from cumulus cells of ovulated COCs enhance sperm capacitation during in vitro fertilization.

Problem: The aim of this study was to find immune-related genes expressed in cumulus cells of ovulated cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) and to clear the functional roles during fertilization process.

Method Of Study: Ovulated COCs were collected from oviduct 16 hr after the hCG injections followed by eCG priming. The cumulus cells were used for RT-PCR or western blotting study.

EGF-like factors induce expansion of the cumulus cell-oocyte complexes by activating calpain-mediated cell movement.

Cumulus cell-oocyte complex (COC) expansion is obligatory for LH-induced ovulation and is initiated by LH induction of the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like factors that mediate the synthesis of the hyaluronan-rich matrix and hyaluronan-stabilizing factors. COC expansion also involves the movement of cumulus cells within the matrix by mechanisms that have not been characterized. We document herein that two proteases, calpain 2 and to a lesser extent calpain 1, are expressed in cumulus cells and that the proteolytic activity of these enzymes is rapidly and significantly increased in COC isolated from human chorionic gonadotropin-induced ovulatory follicles in vivo.

Endogenous acetaldehyde toxicity during antral follicular development in the mouse ovary.

The biosynthesis of androgens requires multiple steps and during the conversion of pregnenolone to 17α-hydroxypregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) by CYP17a1. Acetaldehyde is potentially formed as a by-product in theca cells during antral follicular development. In this study, acetaldehyde level was significantly increased after eCG stimulation and reached a maximum level at 36-h post-eCG.

Toll-like receptors (TLR) 2 and 4 on human sperm recognize bacterial endotoxins and mediate apoptosis.

Background: Bacterial infections of the genital tract are one of the most serious causes of infertility in males. In some human patients with poor semen quality, leukocytospermia has been observed. Because leukocytes express the bacterial-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) responsive Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling cascade and secrete tumor necrosis factor-α, secreted cytokines comprise one, but probably not the only, class of factors that can impact sperm motility.

LH-induced neuregulin 1 (NRG1) type III transcripts control granulosa cell differentiation and oocyte maturation.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like factors [amphiregulin (AREG), betacellulin, and epiregulin] are induced by LH and activate the EGF receptor (ERBB1)/ERK1/2 pathway in granulosa cells and cumulus cells of preovulatory follicles to impact ovulation. However, the expression and roles of other ERBB family members and their ligands have not been explored in detail. Herein, we document that two transcripts of the neuregulin (Nrg1) gene are expressed in granulosa cells, and that the type III Nrg1 is induced during ovulation in an ERK1/2 and C/EBPβ-dependent manner.

Induction of mesenchymal progenitor cells with chondrogenic property from mouse-induced pluripotent stem cells.

Despite recent cell-engineering advances, treatment and repair of cartilage remains challenging. Although stem cell transplantation therapy using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is considered a prominent strategy, the major problem of limited proliferative capacity of autologous cells has been unsolved. Recently, an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell line was suggested as an alternative way to cure various human diseases due to their potential proliferating infinitely while possessing the capacity to form all types of cells.

Polymyxin B neutralizes bacteria-released endotoxin and improves the quality of boar sperm during liquid storage and cryopreservation.

Gram negative bacteria are the predominant type detected in boar semen. Since these bacteria release lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and because polymyxin B (PMB) neutralizes LPS activity, the objective was to improve techniques for long-term storage of boar sperm by testing the beneficial effects of PMB. In the present study, LPS bound directly to the head region of sperm, decreased sperm motility, and induced sperm apoptosis.

Mouse androgenetic embryonic stem cells differentiated to multiple cell lineages in three embryonic germ layers in vitro.

The embryos of some rodents and primates can precede early development without the process of fertilization; however, they cease to develop after implantation because of restricted expressions of imprinting genes. Asexually developed embryos are classified into parthenote/gynogenote and androgenote by their genomic origins. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) derived from asexual origins have also been reported.

A mouse and embryonic stem cell derived from a single embryo.

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are a good material for the study of mammalian development, production of genetically modified animals, and drug discovery because they proliferate infinitely while maintaining a multilineage differentiation potency and a normal karyotype. However, ethical considerations limit the use of human embryos for the establishment of ESCs. Recently, ESCs have been produced from blastomeres divided by biopsy in mice and humans.