Correlation between lesion location and dysphagia characteristics in post-stroke patients.

Objective: To assess the correlation between lesion location and swallowing function characteristics in post-stroke dysphagia (PSD) patients.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 133 PSD. The patients were divided into supratentorial and infratentorial stroke groups.

Comparative proteomic analysis of seminal plasma exosomes in buffalo with high and low sperm motility.

Background: Exosomes are nanosized membranous vesicles secreted by various types of cells, which facilitate intercellular communication by transporting bioactive compounds. Exosomes are abundant in biological fluids including semen, and their protein composition and the potential of seminal plasma exosomes (SPEs) as fertility biomarkers were elucidated in humans, however, little information is available regarding buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Here, we examined protein correlation between spermatozoa, seminal plasma (SP), and SPEs, and we compared and analyzed protein differences between high-motility (H-motility) and low-motility (L-motility) SPEs in buffalo.

Molecular, functional, and cellular alterations of oocytes and cumulus cells induced by heat stress and shock in animals.

Global warming is considered as the main environmental stress affecting ecosystems as well as physiological and biochemical characteristics, and survivability of living organisms. High temperature induces various stresses and causes reduction of fertility through reducing the oocyte developmental competence and alteration in surrounding cells' functions. This causes major economic loss to livestock creating a selective pressure on animals to the advantage of better adapted genotypes and to the detriment of others.

Ubiquitome analysis reveals the involvement of lysine ubiquitination in the spermatogenesis process of adult buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) testis.

Protein ubiquitination, a major and conserved post-translational modification, is known to play a critical regulatory role in many biological processes in eukaryotes. Although several ubiquitinated proteins have been found in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) testis in our previous studies, large-scale profiling of buffalo testis ubiquitome has not been reported to date. In the present study, we first identified a global profiling of lysine ubiquitination of adult buffalo testis using a highly sensitive LC-MS/MS coupled with immune-affinity enrichment of ubiquitinated peptides.

Effects of different culture systems on the culture of prepuberal buffalo () spermatogonial stem cell-like cells .

Currently, the systems for culturing buffalo spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are varied, and their effects are still inconclusive. In this study, we compared the effects of culture systems with undefined (foetal bovine serum) and defined (KnockOut Serum Replacement) materials on the culture of buffalo SSC-like cells. Significantly more DDX4- and UCHL1-positive cells (cultured for 2 days at passage 2) were observed in the defined materials culture system than in the undefined materials system ( < 0.

Maturation of buffalo oocytes in vitro with acetyl-L-carnitine improves cryotolerance due to changes in mitochondrial function and the membrane lipid profile.

The effects of acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC) supplementation during IVM on subsequently vitrified buffalo oocytes were evaluated, followed by determination of the mitochondrial DNA copy number, measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and identification of the lipid profile of oocyte membranes as markers of oocyte quality after vitrification. Supplementation with ALC during IVM significantly improved the rates of oocyte cleavage and morula and blastocyst formation, and increased MMP after vitrification compared with unsupplemented vitrified oocytes (P<0.05).

Treatment with acetyl-l-carnitine during in vitro maturation of buffalo oocytes improves oocyte quality and subsequent embryonic development.

Oocyte quality is one of the important factors in female fertility, in vitro maturation (IVM), and subsequent embryonic development. In the present study, we assessed whether acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC) supplementation during in vitro maturation of buffalo oocytes could improve oocyte quality and subsequent embryonic development. To determine the optimal level of ALC supplementation, we matured cumulus-oocyte complexes in maturation medium supplemented with 0, 2.

Role of BCL2L10 in regulating buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) oocyte maturation.

It has been reported that BCL2L10 is abundantly and specifically expressed in adult human and mouse oocytes and played a very important role in oocytes maturation and early embryonic development. This study is to investigate the expression pattern of BCL2L10 in buffalo ovaries and its effect on the in vitro maturation of buffalo oocytes, so as to dissect mechanism of oocytes maturation and provide theoretical guidance for improvement of the in vitro maturation of buffalo oocytes. The results showed that BCL2L10 gene was enriched in ovary and the expression of BCL2L10 was oocyte specific and up-regulated during oocyte maturation.

Nanos2 is a molecular marker of inchoate buffalo spermatogonia.

Nanos2 belongs to the Nanos gene-coding family and is an important RNA-binding protein that has been shown to have essential roles in male germline stem cells development and self-renewal in mouse. However, little is known about Nanos2 in inchoate buffalo spermatogonia. Here, rapid-amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) was used to obtain the full-length buffalo Nanos2 sequence and bioinformatic analysis revealed a highly conserved Nanos2 sequence between buffalo and other mammalian species.

Evidence of cortical reorganization of language networks after stroke with subacute Broca's aphasia: a blood oxygenation level dependent-functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that is a common consequence of stroke. The pathogenesis of the disease is not fully understood, and as a result, current treatment options are not satisfactory. Here, we used blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the activation of bilateral cortices in patients with Broca's aphasia 1 to 3 months after stroke.

Effect of the meiotic inhibitor cilostamide on resumption of meiosis and cytoskeletal distribution in buffalo oocytes.

Improving the quality of in vitro maturated buffalo oocytes is essential for embryo production. We report here the effects on microtubules and microfilaments in oocytes and embryo development that result from treating buffalo oocytes with the phosphodiesterase 3 (PDE3) inhibitor cilostamide. Addition of 20μM or 50μM cilostamide for 24h during in vitro maturation showed no differences in the percentage of oocytes arrested at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage.

Promoter structures and differential responses to viral and non-viral inducers of chicken melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5.

Melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) is a member of the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs) family and plays a pivotal role in the anti-viral innate immune response. As RIG-I is absent in chickens, MDA5 is hypothesized to be important in detecting viral nucleic acids in the cytoplasm. However, the molecular mechanism of the regulation of chicken MDA5 (chMDA5) expression has yet to be fully elucidated.

Spermatogenesis-associated proteins at different developmental stages of buffalo testicular seminiferous tubules identified by comparative proteomic analysis.

The testicular seminiferous tubules contain Sertoli cells and different types of spermatogenic cells. They provide the microenvironment for spermatogenesis, but the precise molecular mechanism of spermatogenesis is still not well known. Here, we have employed tandem mass tag coupled to LC-MS/MS with the high-throughput quantitative proteomics technology to explore the protein expression from buffalo testicular seminiferous tubules at three different developmental stages (prepuberty, puberty, and postpuberty).

Flow cytometric and near-infrared Raman spectroscopic investigation of quality in stained, sorted, and frozen-thawed buffalo sperm.

Flow cytometry and Laser Tweezers Raman spectroscopy have been used to investigate Nili-Ravi buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) sperm from different samples (fresh, stained, sorted and frozen-thawed) of the flow-sorting process to optimize sperm sex sorting procedures. During the sorting and freezing-thawing processes, the two detection methods both indicated there were differences in mitochondrial activity and membrane integrity. Moreover, a dispersive-type NIR (Near Infrared Reflection) use of the Raman system resulted in the ability to detect a variety of sperm components, including relative DNA, lipid, carbohydrates and protein contents.

Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Mature and Immature Oocytes of the Swamp Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

Maternal protein components change markedly during mammalian oogenesis. Many of these proteins have yet to be characterized and verified. In this study, a proteomics approach was used to evaluate changes in proteins during oogenesis in the Swamp Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

Successful cloning of an adult breeding boar from the novel Chinese Guike No. 1 swine specialized strain.

Somatic cloning, also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), is a promising technology which has been expected to rapidly extend the population of elaborately selected breeding boars with superior production performance. Chinese Guike No. 1 pig breed is a novel swine specialized strain incorporated with the pedigree background of Duroc and Chinese Luchuan pig breeds, thus inherits an excellent production performance.

ZPAC is required for normal spermatogenesis in mice.

The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, involved in genetic recombination and sex-chromosome silencing during meiosis, plays critical roles in the specification of germ-line stem cells and the differentiation of gametes from gonocytes. Zygote-specific proteasome assembly chaperone (ZPAC) is expressed in the early mouse embryo, where it is important for progression of the mouse maternal-to-zygotic transition. The role of ZPAC during spermatogenesis in the adult gonads, however, remains unknown.

Methylation characteristics and developmental potential of Guangxi Bama minipig (Sus scrofa domestica) cloned embryos from donor cells treated with trichostatin A and 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine.

Summary Reprogramming of DNA methylation in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos is incomplete, and aberrant DNA methylation patterns are related to the inefficiency of SCNT. To facilitate nuclear reprogramming, this study investigated the effect of treating Guangxi Bama minipig donor cells with trichostatin A (TSA), 5-aza-2'-deoxycytine (5-aza-dC), or combination of TSA and 5-aza-dC prior to nuclear transfer. Analyses showed that there were no major changes in cell-cycle status among all groups.

Microisolation and microcloning of bovine X-chromosomes for identification of sorted buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) spermatozoa.

Flow-cytometry sorting technology has been successfully used to separate the X- and Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa for production of sex-preselected buffalo. However, an independent technique should be employed to validate the sorting accuracy. In the present study, X-chromosomes of bovine were micro-dissected from the metaphase spreads by using glass needles.

Cloned Guangxi Bama minipig (Sus scrofa) and its offspring have normal reproductive performance.

Xenotransplantation is a rapidly expanding field of research, and cloned miniature pigs are considered to be good model animals for its development. Although many animal species have been cloned, the success rate is very low, especially in the pig. To optimize the protocols for somatic cell nuclear transfer in the Guangxi Bama minipig, the relationship between cell cycle synchronization and nuclear histone acetylation levels were investigated.

[Construction and identification of the chromosome specific DNA library.].

The objective of the present study was to construct a human chromosome 21 specific DNA library for further use in research of genetic disease. Human chromosome 21 microdissected from the peripheral blood cells were subjected to repeatedly incubation in gradient temperature bath to release DNA. The library of chromosome 21 was constructed using the DNA fragment of 100-500 bp and 500-2 000 bp recovered from the products of DOP-PCR.

Fibroblasts from the new-born male testicle of Guangxi Bama mini-pig ( Sus scrofa) can support nuclear transferred embryo development in vitro.

Miniature pigs are valuable for research in xenotransplantation and as models for investigating human diseases. Although many mammalian species have been cloned, the success rates have been very low, especially in the pig. In the present study, an attempt was made to optimize somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) protocols for use in the production of the Guangxi Bama mini-pig.