Publications by authors named "Zu-Yong He"
Article Synopsis
- * SOX9 is a key transcription factor that significantly influences sex determination and the development of male reproductive organs.
- * Recent research highlights the importance of gonadal enhancers in sex determination, aiming to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms behind this process and aid in developing techniques for animal sex manipulation.
MC1R (melanocortin 1 receptor) encodes the melanocortin-1 receptor, which can activate intracellular cAMP synthesis under the stimulation of the α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) ligand. Increased cAMP then activates the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway, resulting in the up-regulation of the expression of the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) which is a critical regulatory factor of melanin synthesis, and tyrosinase (TYR), the rate-limiting enzyme of melanin synthesis tyrosinase (TYR), and ultimately affects production of eumelanin and pheomelanin, and the coat color phenotype of mammalian species. Previous reports have indicated that the mutation A243T in the transmembrane domain 6 (TM6) of MC1R protein might disrupt the function of MC1R, contributing to the red phenotype in Duroc pig.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMyostatin (MSTN) is a member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) family, and functions as an inhibitor of muscle growth. Disrupting the inhibitory effect of MSTN on growth can provide an effective way to increase the muscle yield of livestock and poultry. The cysteine knot motif of TGF-β can stabilize the structure of MSTN protein and plays an important regulatory role in the biological function of MSTN.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutations in Hypoxanthine-guanine Phosphoribosyltransferase1 (HPRT1) gene can lead to metabolic disorder of hypoxanthine and guanine metabolism, and other severe symptoms such as hypophrenia, gout, and kidney stones, called the Lesch-Nyhan disease (LND). Although the mutations are widely distributed throughout the HPRT1 gene, there are some isolated hot spots. In this study, we aim to introduce two previously reported hot spots, c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs Chinese have raised most pigs and consumed most pig products in the world, improving the fertility of sow is of economic benefits to the pig industry in China. The sheep BMP15 (bone morphogenetic protein 15) gene has been identified as a major gene for controlling ovulation rates and prolific traits, which are key factors affecting the fertility of livestock. As similar natural occurring mutations in the porcine BMP15 gene have not yet been reported, we speculated that introducing the same prolific sheep mutations into the porcine BMP15 gene by using the CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9) system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- IGF2 is a crucial growth factor for the development of pigs, and modifying its gene in Lantang pigs via genome editing could enhance lean meat and reduce fat.
- The study compared the effectiveness of two genome editing technologies: CRISPR/Cas9 and zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), finding that CRISPR/Cas9 was significantly more efficient.
- To boost the percentage of edited cells suitable for further applications, a Single-strand annealing reporter system was employed, which greatly improved the editing efficiency for both CRISPR/Cas9 and ZFNs.
Article Synopsis
- Engineered zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) can effectively modify eukaryotic genomes, but creating custom ZFNs is labor-intensive and requires validation through complex processes.
- A computational design strategy using the FoldX force field helps streamline the production of ZFNs by modeling ZFP-DNA complexes based on existing zinc finger arrays.
- The study found a strong correlation between calculated protein-DNA binding energy and the success rate of ZFNs in human cells, suggesting that FoldX could reduce failure rates and enhance ZFN efficiency in genome modification.