The mechanism and therapeutic potential of lncRNA MIR497HG/miR-16-5p axis in breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer has become a major public health problem in the current society, and its incidence rate ranks the first among Chinese female malignant tumors. This paper once again confirmed the efficacy of lncRNA in tumor regulation by introducing the mechanism of the diagnosis of breast cancer by the MIR497HG/miR-16-5p axis. METHODS: The abnormal expression of MIR497HG in breast cancer was determined by RT-qPCR method, and the correlation between MIR497HG expression and clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer patients was analyzed via Chi-square test. To understand the diagnostic potential of MIR497HG in breast cancer by drawing the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). The overexpressed MIR497HG (pcDNA3.1-MIR497HG) was designed and constructed to explore the regulation of elevated MIR497HG on biological function of BT549 and Hs 578T cells through Transwell assays. Additionally, the luciferase gene reporter assay and Pearson analysis evaluated the targeting relationship of MIR497HG to miR-16-5p. RESULTS: MIR497HG was decreased in breast cancer and had high diagnostic function, while elevated MIR497HG inhibited the migration and invasion of BT549 and Hs 578T cells. In terms of functional mechanism, miR-16-5p was the target of MIR497HG, and MIR497HG reversely regulated the miR-16-5p. miR-16-5p mimic reversed the effects of upregulated MIR497HG on cell biological function. CONCLUSIONS: In general, MIR497HG was decreased in breast cancer, and the MIR497HG/miR-16-5p axis regulated breast cancer tumorigenesis, providing effective insights for the diagnosis of patients.

Characterization of Two Novel Single-Stranded RNA Viruses from Agroathelia rolfsii, the Causal Agent of Peanut Stem Rot.

Peanut stem rot is a soil-borne disease caused by Agroathelia rolfsii. It occurs widely and seriously affects the peanut yield in most peanut-producing areas. The mycoviruses that induce the hypovirulence of some plant pathogenic fungi are potential resources for the biological control of fungal diseases in plants. Thus far, few mycoviruses have been found in A. rolfsii. In this study, two mitoviruses, namely, Agroathelia rolfsii mitovirus 1 (ArMV1) and Agroathelia rolfsii mitovirus 2 (ArMV2), were identified from the weakly virulent A. rolfsii strain GP3-1, and they were also found in other A. rolfsii isolates. High amounts of ArMV1 and ArMV2in the mycelium could reduce the virulence of A. rolfsii strains. This is the first report on the existence of mitoviruses in A. rolfsii. The results of this study may provide insights into the classification and evolution of mitoviruses in A. rolfsii and enable the exploration of the use of mycoviruses as biocontrol agents for the control of peanut stem rot.

First Report of Peanut Black Pod Rot Caused by Berkeleyomyces rouxiae in China.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important oilseed and cash crop cultivated in over 100 countries worldwide. The major producers are China, India and USA (Ding et al. 2022). In September 2022, peanut pods exhibiting black necrotic symptoms on the shell surface were observed in Puyang, Henan Province, China. These black spots often merged to form larger necrotic spots on the shell. Disease incidence was 100% in susceptible varieties. Symptomatic shell pieces were surface sterilized with 75% ethanol for 3 min, rinsed three times with sterile water, and then transferred onto PDA medium supplemented with 25 µg/ml chloramphenicol (Long et al. 2022). Isolation frequency of a fungus with similar-appearing colonies from symptomatic pods was 81.7%. A pure culture of a representative isolate, PYHB, was obtained through single-sporing and maintained on PDA plates at 25℃ in darkness. The colony initially appeared white but turned black within 2 days. The isolate produced dark brown, unicellular chlamydospores, which were arranged in club-shaped chains consisting of two to seven cells. The size of the unicellular chlamydospores varied from 3.34 to 15.27 µm (average:6.81, n = 100) in length and 8.30 to 15.51 µm (average:11.29, n = 100) in width. The endoconidia were hyaline and cylindrical, measuring 7.91-22.94 × 1.69-4.81 µm (average: 12.16 × 3.13, n = 100). Based on morphological characteristics, the isolate was tentatively identified as a Berkeleyomyces sp. (Nel et al. 2018; Long et al. 2022). The ITS region of r-DNA, the ribosomal large subunit (LSU), the minichromosome maintenance complex component 7 (MCM7), and the 60S ribosomal protein RPL10 (60S) genes were amplified using ITS1/ITS4, LR0R/LR5, rouxMCM7-F/rouxMCM7-R and roux60s-F/roux60s-R primers, respectively (White et al. 1990; Vilgalys and Hester 1990; Nakane and Usami 2020). The sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: OR053803; LSU: OR053818; MCM7: OR058549; 60S: OR060656). Through BLASTn analysis of the NCBI GenBank database, the generated ITS and LSU sequences showed 100% identity to Berkeleyomyces rouxiae (GenBank MF952418.1 and MF948662.1, respectively) and B. basicola (GenBank MT221585.1 and MH868639.1, respectively). Importantly, the MCM7 and 60S sequences were 100% identical to B. rouxiae (GenBank MF967114.1 and MF967077.1, respectively). Phylogenetic analysis combining ITS, LSU, MCM7, and 60S sequences showed that the isolate PYHB clustered with B. rouxiae. To evaluate pathogenicity, surface-sterilized healthy peanut pods (n = 90) were immersed in a 1×106 spore/ml conidial suspension obtained from isolate PYHB for 5 min and placed in Petri dishes containing moistened cotton at 25°C for 10 days. Pods (n = 90) inoculated with sterile water served as controls. Inoculated pods displayed black necrosis 10 days after inoculation (dai), whereas no symptoms were observed on the control pods at 21 dai. The reisolated pathogen was shown to be identical to the original inoculum through morphological and phylogenetic analysis. Black root rot is a fungal disease caused by Berkeleyomyces spp. (syn. Thielaviopsis spp.) and affects various crops and ornamentals, such as cotton, tobacco, carrot, holly, and pansy (Rahnama et al. 2022). The causal agents B. rouxiae and B. basicola have similar morphological characteristics but can be differentiated through molecular characterization (Nel et al. 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of black pod rot in peanut caused by B. rouxiae in China. The finding from this study will contribute to the development of monitoring and management strategies to combat this destructive disease in peanut cultivation.

Dissection of the Genetic Basis of Resistance to Stem Rot in Cultivated Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) through Genome-Wide Association Study.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is an important oilseed and cash crop worldwide, contributing an important source of edible oil and protein for human nutrition. However, the incidence of stem rot disease caused by Athelia rolfsii poses a major challenge to peanut cultivation, resulting in significant yield losses. In this study, a panel of 202 peanut accessions was evaluated for their resistance to stem rot by inoculating plants in the field with A. rolfsii-infested oat grains in three environments. The mean disease index value of each environment for accessions in subsp. fasitigiate and subsp. hypogaea showed no significant difference. Accessions from southern China displayed the lowest disease index value compared to those from other ecological regions. We used whole-genome resequencing to analyze the genotypes of the accessions and to identify significant SNPs associated with stem rot resistance through genome-wide association study (GWAS). A total of 121 significant SNPs associated with stem rot resistance in peanut were identified, with phenotypic variation explained (PVE) ranging from 12.23% to 15.51%. A total of 27 candidate genes within 100 kb upstream and downstream of 23 significant SNPs were annotated, which have functions related to recognition, signal transduction, and defense response. These significant SNPs and candidate genes provide valuable information for further validation and molecular breeding to improve stem rot resistance in peanut.

Clinical Value of Mixed Reality-Assisted Puncture Navigation for Percutaneous Nephrolithotripsy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical value of mixed reality-assisted puncture navigation (MRAPN) in percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL). METHODS: Two hundred patients undergoing PCN were enrolled, all of whom had kidney stones to be subjected to lithotripsy by PCNL and grouped according to surgical procedure into the MRAPN (n = 100) and non-mixed reality-assisted puncture (non-MRAPN) (n = 100) groups. CT data in DICOM format for all patients in the MRAPN group were imported into 3D reconstruction and mixed reality (MR) post-processing workstations, and holographic 3D visualization modelling. Comparing parameters such as the operative time (OT), puncture time (PT), number of attempts, and estimated blood loss (EBL), a Likert scale was used to assess the clinical value of MRAPN. The Cohen κ coefficient (k) was employed to evaluate consistency among assessors; safety was assessed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in patient demographic indicators or preoperative general information between the MRAPN and non-MRAPN groups (P > .05). The clinical value of MRAPN was higher for subjective scores regarding surgical planning, intraoperative navigation, didactic guidance and physician-patient communication (all P < .001). The PT was significantly shorter in the MRAPN group (P < .001), with a shorter overall OT and lower EBL (P < .001). There were no significant differences in the overall comparison, length of hospital stay, or preoperative or postoperative creatinine (all P > .05). CONCLUSION: MRAPN can safely and effectively improve the success of PCN, reduce complications, and decrease the PT, OT, and EBL.

Genetic, Phenotypic, and Pathogenic Variation Among Athelia rolfsii, the Causal Agent of Peanut Stem Rot in China.

Peanut stem rot caused by Athelia rolfsii is a serious soilborne disease worldwide and is becoming increasingly important in China. A total of 293 A. rolfsii isolates were collected from four representative peanut producing provinces in northern, central, and southern China. These isolates were assigned to 45 mycelial compatibility groups (MCGs) through pairing testing. The MCG diversity among isolates was greater in the southern sampled provinces compared with the northern provinces. A high level of genetic variability was found among the isolates from Guangdong Province in southern China. Variations were found in mycelial growth rate and sclerotial number, size, and dry weight of isolates sampled from places in different latitudes. Size and dry weight of sclerotia were positively correlated with latitude (P < 0.01), but the number of sclerotia was negatively correlated with latitude (P < 0.01). All tester isolates were pathogenic on peanut but varied in disease index. Inter-simple sequence repeat analysis and unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average clustering resulted in three distinct clusters that were associated with the geographical location of the collection sites and sclerotial traits but were not associated with virulence of these isolates. These findings imply that genetic diversity, morphological traits, and virulence among A. rolfsii isolates varied in diverse geographical regions in China, and genetic diversity and sclerotial traits might be affected by latitude.

Repeatability and Image Quality of IDEAL-IQ in Human Lumbar Vertebrae for Fat and Iron Quantification across Acquisition Parameters.

Echo asymmetry and least square estimation-IQ (IDEAL-IQ) were used to quantify fat and iron to verify the effects of collection parameters on repeatability and image quality of water and fat in human vertebral body. Six IDEAL-IQ sequences were used to scan 48 healthy adult women. Reproducibility of fat and iron quantification and image quality were assessed for six IDEAL-IQ sequences. The results showed that the correlation index (0.987, 0.721) of FF and R2∗ between scans of sequence 2 was higher than that of other sequences, and the consistency of fat quantification was better than that of iron (0.860 vs. 0.579) (P < 0.001). Sequence 2 had the highest image quality score (4.9) and the lowest CV score (9.2%). In the FF figure, SNR (18.8) and CNR (17.8 ± 6.4) were the highest, while CV was the lowest (36.7%, 36.1%). In the R2∗ figure, sequence 3 had the highest SNR (21.8) and CNR (20.5), but its CV (51.8% and 56.1%) was significantly higher than that of sequence 2. The occurrence of fat-water exchange (FWS) was lowest in sequence 2 and sequence 4 (0, N = 96). In conclusion, the fat quantification of IDEAL-IQ was robust to the changes of collection parameters, and section thickness (ST) had a certain effect on maintaining good repeatability of R2∗ quantification. The higher the ST was, the better the image quality of FF and R2∗ was maintained and stable and the less the occurrence of FWS.

BCKDK Promotes Ovarian Cancer Proliferation and Migration by Activating the MEK/ERK Signaling Pathway.

Background: Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most fatal gynecologic cancer. The branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase kinase (BCKDK) plays an important role in many serious human diseases, including cancers. Its function in promoting cell proliferation and migration has been reported in various cancers. However, the biological role of BCKDK and its molecular mechanisms underlying OC initiation and progression are unclear. Methods: First, the expression level of BCKDK in OC cell lines or tissues was determined using tissue microarray- (TMA-) based immunohistochemistry or western blotting. Then, growth curve analysis, anchorage-independent cell transformation assays, wound healing assays, cell migration assays, and tumor xenografts were used to test whether BCKDK could promote cell transformation or metastasis. Finally, the signaling pathways involved in this process were investigated by western blotting or immunoprecipitation. Results: We found that the expression of BCKDK was upregulated in OC tissues and the high expression of BCKDK was correlated with an advanced pathological grade in patients. The ectopic overexpression of BCKDK promoted the proliferation and migration of OC cells, and the knockdown of BCKDK with shRNAs inhibited the proliferation and migration of OC ex vivo and in vivo. Moreover, BCKDK promoted OC proliferation and migration by activating MEK. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that BCKDK promotes OC proliferation and migration by activating the MEK/ERK signaling pathway. Targeting the BCKDK-MEK axis may provide a new therapeutic strategy for treating patients with OC.

Multi-responsive and conductive bilayer hydrogel and its application in flexible devices.

Multi-stimuli-responsive hydrogels are intelligent materials that present advantages for application in soft devices compared with conventional machines. In this paper, we prepared a bilayer hydrogel consisting of a poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) layer and a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) layer. The hydrogel responded to temperature, pH, NaCl, and ethanol by undergoing bending deformation. At 40 °C, it only took 23 s for the hydrogel to bend nearly 300°. Carbon black was also introduced into the hydrogel network to render it conductive. Based on its multi-stimuli-responsive properties and conductivity, the hydrogel was used to construct a 4-arm gripper, thermistor, and finger movement monitor. The time required to grip and release an object was 141 s. The resistance changed with temperature, which affected the brightness of an LED. Finger motions were monitored, and the bending angle could be distinguished.

Analysis of endometrial thickness patterns and pregnancy outcomes considering 12,991 fresh IVF cycles.

BACKGROUND: Different endometrial patterns have an important effect on the relationship between endometrial thickness (EMT) and clinical pregnancy rate. There is a significant difference in age, selection of cycle protocols, and clinical pregnancy rates among four groups with diverse endometrial patterns. METHODS: This retrospective study aimed to assess the association between EMT on human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) administration day and the clinical outcome of fresh in vitro fertilization (IVF). The 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles for EMT were determined as 8, 11, and 14 mm, respectively. Patients were sub-divided into four groups based on their EMT in different endometrial patterns (Group 1: < 8 mm; Group 2: ≥ 8 and ≤ 11 mm; Group 3: > 11 and ≤ 14 mm; Group 4: > 14 mm). We divided patients into three groups based on their endometrial pattern and evaluated the correlation between EMT and clinical pregnancy rate. RESULTS: We found a positive correlation between pregnancy rates and EMT in all endometrial patterns. Multiple logistic regression analysis proved age, duration of infertility, cycle protocols, number of embryos transferred, progesterone on HCG day, endometrial patterns, and EMT have significant effects on clinical pregnancy rates. Meanwhile, there was a significant difference in age, selection of cycle protocols, and clinical pregnancy rates among four groups with diverse endometrial patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Different endometrial patterns have an important effect on the relationship between EMT and clinical pregnancy rate.

A traditional medicine, respiratory detox shot (RDS), inhibits the infection of SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and the influenza A virus in vitro.

BACKGROUND: The ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in the infection of over 128 million people and has caused over 2.8 million deaths as of April 2021 in more than 220 countries and territories. Currently, there is no effective treatment for COVID-19 to reduce mortality. We investigated the potential anti-coronavirus activities from an oral liquid of traditional medicine, Respiratory Detox Shot (RDS), which contains mostly herbal ingredients traditionally used to manage lung diseases. RESULTS: Here we report that RDS inhibited the infection of target cells by lenti-SARS-CoV, lenti-SARS-CoV-2, and hybrid alphavirus-SARS-CoV-2 (Ha-CoV-2) pseudoviruses, and by infectious SARS-CoV-2 and derived Ha-CoV-2 variants including B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, B.1.429, B.1.2, B.1.494, B.1.1.207, B.1.258, and B.1.1.298. We further demonstrated that RDS directly inactivates the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles. In addition, we found that RDS can also block the infection of target cells by Influenza A virus. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that RDS may broadly inhibit the infection of respiratory viruses.

Genetic diversity and evolution of Hantaan virus in China and its neighbors.

BACKGROUND: Hantaan virus (HTNV; family Hantaviridae, order Bunyavirales) causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), which has raised serious concerns in Eurasia, especially in China, Russia, and South Korea. Previous studies reported genetic diversity and phylogenetic features of HTNV in different parts of China, but the analyses from the holistic perspective are rare. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To better understand HTNV genetic diversity and gene evolution, we analyzed all available complete sequences derived from the small (S) and medium (M) segments with bioinformatic tools. Eleven phylogenetic groups were defined and showed geographic clustering; 42 significant amino acid variant sites were found, and 19 of them were located in immune epitopes; nine recombinant events and eight reassortments with highly divergent sequences were found and analyzed. We found that sequences from Guizhou showed high genetic divergence, contributing to multiple lineages of the phylogenetic tree and also to the recombination and reassortment events. Bayesian stochastic search variable selection analysis revealed that Heilongjiang, Shaanxi, and Guizhou played important roles in HTNV evolution and migration; the virus may originate from Zhejiang Province in the eastern part of China; and the virus population size expanded from the 1980s to 1990s. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings revealed the original and evolutionary features of HTNV, which will help to illustrate hantavirus epidemic trends, thus aiding in disease control and prevention.

Combined transcriptome sequencing reveals the photoperiod insensitivity mechanism of oats.

Avena sativa L. is the most important cultivated oat species worldwide. Although photoperiod-insensitive oat varieties exist, the molecular mechanisms underlying their photoperiod sensitivity are poorly understood. This study investigated the effects of day length on the fioral transition of oats and the mechanisms underlying oat photoperiod insensitivity. Photoperiod-sensitive and photoperiod-insensitive varieties, including gp012, were used in shading experiments, and the developing leaves and main shoot apices (MSAs) of the HONGQI2 and gp012 varieties were used for sequencing. Leaves and MSAs were collected in 2016, and their transcriptomes were sequenced. The photoperiod-insensitive varieties headed under both short-day and long-day conditions, while the photoperiod-sensitive varieties headed only under long-day conditions. A total of 60673 transcript sequences were obtained, 7932 of which were differentially expressed; 3194 and 4738 transcripts were differentially expressed in the leaves and MSAs, respectively. A total of 25793 transcripts were classified into 123 pathways based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. The carbon metabolism pathways were dominant, followed by ribosome and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, 203 transcripts were classified into the circadian rhythm pathway. Compared with the expression of pseudo-response regulator protein 37 (PRR37) in photoperiod-sensitive varieties, that in photoperiod-insensitive varieties was upregulated. Among the differentially expressed transcripts (DETs), 8 MADS-box genes were identified. PRR37 is a key regulator of oat photoperiod insensitivity. The obtained transcriptome dataset may provide a reference for analyzing oat transcript expression, and the results should be used as a reference for oat breeding and production.

HLA-F-AS1/miR-330-3p/PFN1 axis promotes colorectal cancer progression.

OBJECTIVE: Accumulating Studies implies that long-chain non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays a vital regulatory role in the occurrence and progression of tumors. This study aimed to explore the function and mechanism of lncRNA HLA-F antisense RNA 1 (HLA-F-AS1) in colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: Expressions of HLA-F-AS1, miR-330-3p and profilin 1 (PFN1) mRNA in CRC tissues were detected by RT-PCR. MTT assay was used to detect cell proliferation, and Transwell assay was used to detect cell migration and invasion. In addition, PFN1 and apoptosis-related protein Bcl-2 associated X (Bax) and B cell lymphoma/leukmia-2 (Bcl2) were detected by western blot. Interactions between miR-330-3p and HLA-F-AS1 or the 3'UTR of PFN1 were predicted and determined by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Expressions of HLA-F-AS1 and PFN1 were significantly up-regulated while miR-330-3p was significantly down-regulated in CRC tissues and cell lines. Over-expressions of HLA-F-AS1 or transfection of miR-330-3p inhibitors could promote the proliferation, migration and invasion and block apoptosis of CRC cells, whereas knockdown of HLA-F-AS1 or transfection of miR-330-3p mimics led to the opposite effects. Additionally, HLA-F-AS1 could down-regulate miR-330-3p via sponging it. HLA-F-AS1 also enhanced the expressions of PFN1, which was validated as a target gene of miR-330-3p. CONCLUSION: HLA-F-AS1 promoted CRC progression via regulating miR-330-3p/PFN1 axis.

Tunable spinful matter wave valve.

We investigate the transport problem that a spinful matter wave is incident on a strong localized spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate in optical lattices, where the localization is admitted by atom interaction only existing at one particular site, and the spin-orbit coupling arouse spatial rotation of the spin texture. We find that tuning the spin orientation of the localized Bose-Einstein condensate can lead to spin-nonreciprocal/spin-reciprocal transport, meaning the transport properties are dependent on/independent of the spin orientation of incident waves. In the former case, we obtain the conditions to achieve transparency, beam-splitting, and blockade of the incident wave with a given spin orientation, and furthermore the ones to perfectly isolate incident waves of different spin orientation, while in the latter, we obtain the condition to maximize the conversion of different spin states. The result may be useful to develop a novel spinful matter wave valve that integrates spin switcher, beam-splitter, isolator, and converter. The method can also be applied to other real systems, e.g., realizing perfect isolation of spin states in magnetism, which is otherwise rather difficult.

Triptolide Inhibits Breast Cancer Cell Metastasis Through Inducing the Expression of miR-146a, a Negative Regulator of Rho GTPase.

Triptolide, an extract of Tripterygium wilfordii, has been shown to have a potent anticancer activity. In the present study, it was found that triptolide could effectively induce apoptosis and inhibit proliferation and invasion in malignant MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The study focused on its effect on inhibiting invasion, which has not been extensively reported to date. We predicted that triptolide may change invasion activity via microRNAs (miRNAs), which have been recognized as important regulators of gene expression. miRNAome variation in MDA-MB-231 cells with or without triptolide treatment demonstrated that miR-146a was upregulated following treatment with triptolide. Our previous studies have shown that miR-146a can inhibit migration and invasion by targeting RhoA in breast cancer. This time, we found that miR-146a can target Rac1, another key member of the Rho GTPase family. Luciferase reporter containing Rac1 3'-UTR was constructed to prove this hypothesis. In addition, following treatment with triptolide, the expression of RhoA and Rac1 was found to be decreased. These results indicated that triptolide exerts its anti-invasion activity through a miRNA-mediated mechanism, which indirectly regulates the expression of Rho GTPase. Triptolide combined with miR-146a could improve the effect of triptolide treatment on breast cancer.

Fuzzy multi-objective medical service organization selection model considering limited resources and stochastic demand in emergency management.

In recent years, most countries around the world have faced increasing pressures in the realm of emergency management than ever before. Medical service organization selection is one of the most vital facets of emergency management. Meanwhile, during the selection process, many criteria may conflict with one another and information is uncertain, rendering decision-making processes complex. Hence, multi-objective optimization, fuzzy way and stochastic theories serve as suitable means of addressing such problems. In this paper, a fuzzy multi-objective linear model is developed to overcome medical service organization selection issues and uncertain information. Meanwhile, a fuzzy objective and weight are applied to enable the decision-maker to select suitable schemes while considering stochastic medical service demand. Moreover, real data cannot been obtained. Hence, according to actual conditions, we assume relative information. For illustrative purposes, a numerical example is presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model from experimental data.

Comparison of recombinant and urinary follicle-stimulating hormones over 2000 gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist cycles: a retrospective study.

The objective of this paper was to compare the effect of recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (rFSH) and urinary follicle-stimulating hormone (uFSH) on pregnancy rates and live birth rates with the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocol in China. This retrospective study was conducted from January 2014 through August 2017. Patients treated with uFSH had significantly higher levels of luteinizing hormone (3.79 mIU/ml vs. 3.09 mIU/ml) and progesterone (0.93 ng/ml vs. 1.16 ng/ml) on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) administration, and they also had higher pregnancy rates (24.19% vs. 22.86%). There was no significant difference in the rate of live births. In the logistic regression results of the rFSH group, the pregnancy rate was positively correlated with the level of luteinizing hormone, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.09 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00-1.18; P = 0.048). In the uFSH group, the pregnancy rate was negatively correlated with the progesterone level on the day of HCG administration, with an OR of 0.47 (95% CI: 0.27-0.77; P = 0.004). Our research concluded that uFSH performed better than rFSH in terms of pregnancy rates when it was associated with the GnRH antagonist protocol. Meanwhile, no significant differences in the rate of live births were observed between the two groups.

Genome-wide transcriptome profiling provides overwintering mechanism of Agropyron mongolicum.

BACKGROUND: The mechanism of winter survival for perennials involves multiple levels of gene regulation, especially cold resistance. Agropyron mongolicum is one important perennial grass species, but there is little information regarding its overwintering mechanism. We performed a comprehensive transcriptomics study to evaluate global gene expression profiles regarding the winter survival of Agropyron mongolicum. A genome-wide gene expression analysis involving four different periods was identified. Twenty-eight coexpression modules with distinct patterns were performed for transcriptome profiling. Furthermore, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and their functional characterization were defined using a genome database such as NT, NR, COG, and KEGG. RESULT: A total of 79.6% of the unigenes were characterized to be involved in 136 metabolic pathways. In addition, the expression level of ABA receptor genes, regulation of transcription factors, and a coexpression network analysis were conducted using transcriptome data. We found that ABA receptors regulated downstream gene expression by activating bZIP and NAC transcription factors to improve cold resistance and winter survival. CONCLUSION: This study provides comprehensive transcriptome data for the characterization of overwintering-related gene expression profiles in A. mongolicum. Genomics resources can help provide a better understanding of the overwintering mechanism for perennial gramineae species. By analyzing genome-wide expression patterns for the four key stages of tiller bud development, the functional characteristics of the DEGs were identified that participated in various metabolic pathways and have been shown to be strongly associated with cold tolerance. These results can be further exploited to determine the mechanism of overwintering in perennial gramineae species.