Term alpaca placenta glycosylation profile and its correlation with pregnancy maintenance and fetal survival.

Alpaca is a South American camelid, particularly present in Peruvian highlands, where oxygen concentration and atmospheric pressure are very low. Due to this fact, gestational physiology has adapted to preserve the conceptus' and mother's health. In this context, several cellular and molecular features play an essential role during and at the end of gestation. Structural carbohydrates act on maternal-fetal communication, recognize exogenous molecules, and contribute to placental barrier selectivity. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the structural carbohydrate profiles that are present in the term alpaca placenta, kept in their natural habitat of around 4,000 m height. For this propose, 12 term alpaca placentas were collected, and the material was obtained at the time of birth from camelids raised naturally in the Peruvian highlands, in the Cusco region. All placenta samples were processed for histological analysis. A lectin histochemical investigation was performed using 13 biotinylated lectins, allowing us to determine the location of carbohydrates and their intensity on a semi-quantitative scale. Our results demonstrated that during term gestation, the epitheliochorial alpaca placenta shows a high presence of carbohydrates, particularly glucose, α-linked mannose, N-acetylglucosamine ß (GlcNAc), galactose (αGal), and N-acetylgalactosamine α (GalNAc), present in the trophoblast, amnion epithelium, and mesenchyme, as well as the presence of sialic acid residues and low affinity for fucose. In fetal blood capillaries, the presence of bi- and tri-antennary complex structures and α-linked mannose was predominated. In conclusion, we characterized the glycosylation profile in the term alpaca placenta. Based on our data, compared to those reported in the bibliography, we suggest that these carbohydrates could participate in the labor of these animals that survive in Peruvian extreme environments.

New virtual platform for teaching comparative animal neuroanatomy based on metameric slices of the central nervous system.

With the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, new technologies were used as methods to continue teaching and learning activities. This scenario brought forth the need to develop online tools for teaching. Therefore, this research aimed to develop a digital platform linking the knowledge about the central nervous system (CNS) anatomy from feline, equine, and sheep models. The platform was produced from the analysis of a collection of mesoscopic slides made from the sequenced cross-section of the CNS of a feline, an equine, and a sheep. All sections were analysed and stained using the Paul-Wiegert modified technique. The platform was organized in four modules: (1) Neuroanatomy of the Central Nervous System; (2) Neuroanatomy of Feline; (3) Neuroanatomy of Equine; and (4) Neuroanatomy of sheep. For each module, an explanatory document in PDF was developed, as well as video lectures and a descriptive atlas identifying the structures present in the encephalon and in the cervical part of the spinal cord. Even though there are numerous online platforms that allow the study of veterinary anatomy of different species and organs, the veterinary neuroanatomy platform presented here is the first platform that conjointly addresses the CNS anatomy of felines, equines, and sheep. Future research applying this platform as an aid to the study of neuroanatomy by students, teachers, and veterinary professionals should validate its use as a complementary tool for teaching and learning animal neuroanatomy.

Mice placental ECM components may provide a three-dimensional placental microenvironment

Bioethical limitations impair deeper studies in human placental physiology, then most studies use human term placentas or murine models. To overcome these challenges, new models have been proposed to mimetize the placental three-dimensional microenvironment. The placental extracellular matrix plays an essential role in several processes, being a part of the establishment of materno-fetal interaction. Regarding these aspects, this study aimed to investigate term mice placental ECM components, highlighting its collagenous and non-collagenous content, and proposing a potential three-dimensional model to mimetize the placental microenvironment. For that, 18.5-day-old mice placenta, both control and decellularized (n = 3 per group) were analyzed on Orbitrap Fusion Lumos spectrometer (ThermoScientific) and LFQ intensity generated on MaxQuant software. Proteomic analysis identified 2317 proteins. Using ECM and cell junction-related ontologies, 118 (5.1%) proteins were filtered. Control and decellularized conditions had no significant differential expression on 76 (64.4%) ECM and cell junction-related proteins. Enriched ontologies in the cellular component domain were related to cell junction, collagen and lipoprotein particles, biological process domain, cell adhesion, vasculature, proteolysis, ECM organization, and molecular function. Enriched pathways were clustered in cell adhesion and invasion, and labyrinthine vasculature regulation. These preserved ECM proteins are responsible for tissue stiffness and could support cell anchoring, modeling a three-dimensional structure that may allow placental microenvironment reconstruction.

Biological Graft as an Innovative Biomaterial for Complex Skin Wound Treatment in Dogs: A Preliminary Report.

Complex wounds in dogs are a recurrent problem in veterinary clinical application and can compromise skin healing; in this sense, tissue bioengineering focused on regenerative medicine can be a great ally. Decellularized and recellularized skin scaffolds are produced to be applied in different and complex canine dermal wounds in the present investigation. Dog skin fragments are immersed in a 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution at room temperature and overnight at 4 °C for 12 days. Decellularized samples are evaluated by histological analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and gDNA quantification. Some fragments are also recellularized using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Eight adult dogs are divided into three groups for the application of the decellularized (Group I, n = 3) and recellularized scaffolds (Group II, n = 3) on injured areas, and a control group (Group III, n = 2). Wounds are evaluated and measured during healing, and comparisons among the three groups are described. In 30- and 60-day post-grafting, the histopathological analysis of patients from Groups I and II shows similar patterns, tissue architecture preservation, epithelial hyperplasia, hyperkeratosis, edema, and mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate. Perfect integration between scaffolds and wounds, without rejection or contamination, are observed in both treated groups. According to these results, decellularized skin grafts may constitute a potential innovative and functional tool to be adopted as a promising dog cutaneous wound treatment. This is the first study that applies decellularized and recellularized biological skin grafts to improve the healing process in several complex wounds in dogs, demonstrating great potential for regenerative veterinary medicine progress.

Immune Functions Alterations Due to Racing Stress in Thoroughbred Horses.

Racehorses are constantly exposed to stress. Aiming to verify the state of blood components and cortisol alterations during their routine and after races, phagocytosis and oxidative neutrophil burst assays, serum cortisol determination, erythrocytes apoptosis evaluation, lymphoproliferation assays, and blood count tests were performed in thirty Thoroughbred racehorses, which were divided in two groups. The samples were taken right after races (moment 0 d), during rest periods (-11 d, +1 d, +3 d), and after training (-8, +2, +5). In both groups, the phagocytosis showed a decrease in percentage and intensity immediately after the race when comparing samples collected during rest or training periods. In the mean values of oxidative burst on samples collected immediately after the race, group I animals demonstrated a decrease (524.2 ± 248.9) when compared with those samples collected in other moments. No significant differences were found between the results of different moments regarding the apoptotic cells and lymphoproliferation assays. The mean values of serum cortisol levels were increased immediately after racing. There was an increase in the percentage of neutrophils found immediately after the race. It was possible to conclude that, although a transient reduction was found in the number of neutrophils, the horses' adaptive function was not affected.

Characterization of rat liver bud-derived cells.

Cells derived from the fetal liver have been shown to be a rich source of progenitor stem cells, constituting a promising source for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. In this study, embryo and fetal liver-bud derived cells from Fischer 344 rats were obtained at E12.5, E14.5 and E16.5 gestational days and evaluated for cell phenotype, survival and proliferation. Liver transaminase (AST and ALT) and AFP levels were lower in embryo liver-bud-derived cells on day 12.5. Markers for stem cells, cell cycle progression and cell death were differentially expressed in E12.5 cell cultures. Analysis of mitochondrial electric potential on 14.5 and 16.5 days showed a tendency for cells with lower functional or metabolic ability, in comparison to cultures derived from day 12.5. The results demonstrated that the majority of the E16.5 cells were in the G0 / G1 phase. The capacity of synthesis (S) and cellular division (G2 / M) of embryo and fetal liver bud-derived cells was constant over all gestational periods. In conclusion, embryo and fetal liver-bud-derived cells during the periods of 12.5 and 14.5 days, showed expression profile of progenitor cells, cell activity and hematopoietic function in culture.