Themis: advancing precision oncology through comprehensive molecular subtyping and optimization.

Recent advances in tumor molecular subtyping have revolutionized precision oncology, offering novel avenues for patient-specific treatment strategies. However, a comprehensive and independent comparison of these subtyping methodologies remains unexplored. This study introduces 'Themis' (Tumor HEterogeneity analysis on Molecular subtypIng System), an evaluation platform that encapsulates a few representative tumor molecular subtyping methods, including Stemness, Anoikis, Metabolism, and pathway-based classifications, utilizing 38 test datasets curated from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and significant studies. Our self-designed quantitative analysis uncovers the relative strengths, limitations, and applicability of each method in different clinical contexts. Crucially, Themis serves as a vital tool in identifying the most appropriate subtyping methods for specific clinical scenarios. It also guides fine-tuning existing subtyping methods to achieve more accurate phenotype-associated results. To demonstrate the practical utility, we apply Themis to a breast cancer dataset, showcasing its efficacy in selecting the most suitable subtyping methods for personalized medicine in various clinical scenarios. This study bridges a crucial gap in cancer research and lays a foundation for future advancements in individualized cancer therapy and patient management.

The relationship between atmospheric particulate matter, leaf surface microstructure, and the phyllosphere microbial diversity of Ulmus L.

BACKGROUND: Plants can retain atmospheric particulate matter (PM) through their unique foliar microstructures, which has a profound impact on the phyllosphere microbial communities. Yet, the underlying mechanisms linking atmospheric particulate matter (PM) retention by foliar microstructures to variations in the phyllosphere microbial communities remain a mystery. In this study, we conducted a field experiment with ten Ulmus lines. A series of analytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and high-throughput amplicon sequencing, were applied to examine the relationship between foliar surface microstructures, PM retention, and phyllosphere microbial diversity of Ulmus L. RESULTS: We characterized the leaf microstructures across the ten Ulmus lines. Chun exhibited a highly undulated abaxial surface and dense stomatal distribution. Langya and Xingshan possessed dense abaxial trichomes, while Lieye, Zuiweng, and Daguo had sparsely distributed, short abaxial trichomes. Duomai, Qingyun, and Lang were characterized by sparse stomata and flat abaxial surfaces, whereas Jinye had sparsely distributed but extensive stomata. The mean leaf retention values for total suspended particulate (TSP), PM2.5, PM2.5-10, PM10-100, and PM> 100 were 135.76, 6.60, 20.10, 90.98, and 13.08 µg·cm- 2, respectively. Trichomes substantially contributed to PM2.5 retention, while larger undulations enhanced PM2.5-10 retention, as evidenced by positive correlations between PM2.5 and abaxial trichome density and between PM2.5-10 and the adaxial raw microroughness values. Phyllosphere microbial diversity patterns varied among lines, with bacteria dominated by Sediminibacterium and fungi by Mycosphaerella, Alternaria, and Cladosporium. Redundancy analysis confirmed that dense leaf trichomes facilitated the capture of PM2.5-associated fungi, while bacteria were less impacted by PM and struggled to adhere to leaf microstructures. Long and dense trichomes provided ideal microhabitats for retaining PM-borne microbes, as evidenced by positive feedback loops between PM2.5, trichome characteristics, and the relative abundances of microorganisms like Trichoderma and Aspergillus. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings, a three-factor network profile was constructed, which provides a foundation for further exploration into how different plants retain PM through foliar microstructures, thereby impacting phyllosphere microbial communities.

Diagnosis and management of urinary bladder paragangliomas: A Sino-American-European retrospective observational study.

OBJECTIVE: Paragangliomas of the urinary bladder (UBPGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumours and pose a diagnostic and surgical challenge. It remains unclear what factors contribute to a timely presurgical diagnosis. The purpose of this study is to identify factors contributing to missing the diagnosis of UBPGLs before surgery. DESIGN, PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS: A total of 73 patients from 11 centres in China, and 51 patients from 6 centres in Europe and 1 center in the United States were included. Clinical, surgical and genetic data were collected and compared in patients diagnosed before versus after surgery. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify clinical factors associated with initiation of presurgical biochemical testing. RESULTS: Among all patients, only 47.6% were diagnosed before surgery. These patients were younger (34.0 vs. 54.0 years, p < .001), had larger tumours (2.9 vs. 1.8 cm, p < .001), and more had a SDHB pathogenic variant (54.7% vs. 11.9%, p < .001) than those diagnosed after surgery. Patients with presurgical diagnosis presented with more micturition spells (39.7% vs. 15.9%, p = .003), hypertension (50.0% vs. 31.7%, p = .041) and catecholamine-related symptoms (37.9% vs. 17.5%, p = .012). Multivariable logistic analysis revealed that presence of younger age (<35 years, odds ratio [OR] = 6.47, p = .013), micturition spells (OR = 6.79, p = .007), hypertension (OR = 3.98, p = .011), and sweating (OR = 41.72, p = .013) increased the probability of initiating presurgical biochemical testing. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with UBPGL are diagnosed after surgery. Young age, hypertension, micturition spells and sweating are clues in assisting to initiate early biochemical testing and thus may establish a timely presurgical diagnosis.

A silver-mediated radical process of ß-keto sulfones for the synthesis of 2,3-diacyl furans.

A facile and efficient method for constructing 2,3-diacyl trisubstituted furans via a silver-mediated radical process of ß-keto sulfones is developed. The reaction mechanism has been carefully investigated, revealing that the transformation proceeds through a radical pathway, leading to moderate to good yields of desired products.

Potential prognostic value of CSF-targeted proteomics across the Alzheimer's disease continuum.

BACKGROUND: Core biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD), such as Aß42 and tau, have demonstrated high prognostic accuracy but do not fully capture the complex pathophysiology of AD. In this study, our objective was to identify novel cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers using proteomics across the entire AD continuum to predict conversion to AD and explore their involvement in AD pathogenesis. METHODS: A cohort of 186 cognitively normal (CN), 127 subjective memory complaint (SMC), 79 early mild cognitive impairment (EMCI), 249 late MCI (LMCI), and 132 AD individuals was analyzed, with a follow-up period of over 3 years for non-AD participants. CSF 65 peptides, as well as hippocampal and entorhinal volumes were analyzed, and cognitive function was evaluated using the 13-item cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-Cog 13). Cox proportional hazards models and mediation analysis were performed to investigate associations and causal relationships. RESULTS: During the follow-up, approximately one-fourth (146/580) of the non-AD participants progressed to AD. After adjusting for baseline diagnosis (CN to LMCI) and other variables, multivariable Cox regression analysis identified three peptides (VAELEDEK, VSFELFADK, and VVSSIEQK) as significant predictors of conversion to AD. Incorporating these three peptides into the initial model significantly improved the C-statistic from 0.82 to 0.85 for predicting AD conversion, surpassing the predictive ability of Aß42 and P-tau. Moreover, hippocampal and entorhinal volumes mediated 30.3-53.8% of the association between the three peptides and ADAS-Cog 13 scores. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the potential of these three peptides as robust prognostic biomarker candidates for AD conversion across the entire AD continuum, with a mechanism involving the mediation of hippocampal and entorhinal volumes.

Impact of Preoperative Neutrophil to Prealbumin Ratio Index (NPRI) on Short-Term Complications and Long-Term Prognosis in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Radical Surgery for Colorectal Cancer.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the impact and predictive value of the preoperative NPRI on short-term complications and long-term prognosis in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical surgery for colorectal cCancer (CRC). Methods: A total of 302 eligible CRC patients were included, assessing five inflammation-and nutrition-related markers and various clinical features for their predictive impact on postoperative outcomes. Emphasis was on the novel indicator NPRI to elucidate its prognostic and predictive value for perioperative risks. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified a history of abdominal surgery, prolonged surgical duration, CEA levels ≥5 ng/mL, and NPRI ≥ 3.94 × 10-2 as independent risk factors for postoperative complications in CRC patients. The Clavien--Dindo complication grading system highlighted the close association between preoperative NPRI and both common and severe complications. Multivariate analysis also identified a history of abdominal surgery, tumor diameter ≥5 cm, poorly differentiated or undifferentiated tumors, and NPRI ≥ 2.87 × 10-2 as independent risk factors for shortened overall survival (OS). Additionally, a history of abdominal surgery, tumor maximum diameter ≥5 cm, tumor differentiation as poor/undifferentiated, NPRI ≥ 2.87 × 10-2, and TNM Stage III were determined as independent risk factors for shortened disease-free survival (DFS). Survival curve results showed significantly higher 5-year OS and DFS in the low NPRI group compared to the high NPRI group. The incorporation of NPRI into nomograms for OS and DFS, validated through calibration and decision curve analyses, attested to the excellent accuracy and practicality of these models. Conclusion: Preoperative NPRI independently predicts short-term complications and long-term prognosis in patients undergoing laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery, enhancing predictive accuracy when incorporated into nomograms for patient survival.

Risk factors, prognostic factors, and nomograms for synchronous brain metastases of solid tumors: a population-based study.

In previous literatures, we found that similar studies on the short-term prognosis of synchronous brain metastases (S-BM) from other systems are rare. Our aim was to evaluate the early mortality rate of patients with S-BM from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database and explore the risk factors for early mortality (≤ 1 year). We used Kaplan-Meier (KM) curves to evaluate early mortality in patients with S-BM from the SEER database. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify significant independent prognostic factors in patients with a follow-up time > 12 months. And the meaningful factors were used to construct a nomogram of overall early death. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to test the predictive ability of the model, while the decision curve analysis (DCA) curve was used to validate the clinical application ability of the model. A total of 47,284 patients were used for univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to screen variables to constructing a nomogram. In the all-cause early mortality specific model, the area under the ROC (AUC) curve of the training set was 0.764 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.758-0.769), and the AUC of the validation set was 0.761 (95% CI: 0.752-0.770). The DCA calibration curves of the training set and validation set indicate that the 1-year early mortality rate predicted by this model is consistent with the actual situation. We found that the 1-year early mortality rate was 76.4%. We constructed a validated nomogram using these covariates to effectively predict 1-year early mortality in patients with S-BM. This nomogram can help clinical workers screen high-risk patients to develop more reasonable treatment plans.

External Guide Sequence Effectively Suppresses the Gene Expression and Replication of Herpes Simplex Virus 2.

Ribonuclease P (RNase P) complexed with an external guide sequence (EGS) represents a promising nucleic acid-based gene targeting approach for gene expression knock-down and modulation. The RNase P-EGS strategy is unique as an EGS can be designed to basepair any mRNA sequence and recruit intracellular RNase P for hydrolysis of the target mRNA. In this study, we provide the first direct evidence that the RNase P-based approach effectively blocks the gene expression and replication of herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), the causative agent of genital herpes. We constructed EGSs to target the mRNA encoding HSV-2 single-stranded DNA binding protein ICP8, which is essential for viral DNA genome replication and growth. In HSV-2 infected cells expressing a functional EGS, ICP8 levels were reduced by 85%, and viral growth decreased by 3000 folds. On the contrary, ICP8 expression and viral growth exhibited no substantial differences between cells expressing no EGS and those expressing a disabled EGS with mutations precluding RNase P recognition. The anti-ICP8 EGS is specific in targeting ICP8 because it only affects ICP8 expression but does not affect the expression of the other viral immediate-early and early genes examined. This study shows the effective and specific anti-HSV-2 activity of the RNase P-EGS approach and demonstrates the potential of EGS RNAs for anti-HSV-2 applications.

Training to use smart tablets to access reliable online health information in older adults' post-pandemic: A focused pilot intervention study.

BACKGROUND: Older adults are becoming more accepting and interested in using digital technologies, but difficulties and barriers remain for accessing reliable health-related information. The purpose of this focused pilot intervention study was to: (1) understand older adults' firsthand experiences and challenges while using smart tablets post-COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) gather suggestions for age-appropriate training materials, preference of training materials, and resources to access reliable online health information. METHODS: A focused pilot intervention study that involved training older adults to use smart tablets followed by focus group of a convenience sample of 13 older adults (65-85 years old; 91.6% female) on their experiences of using smart tablets. RESULTS: Thematic analysis revealed three themes: tablets are convenient to access online information and older adults reported technical, security concerns, emotional and cognitive challenges regarding use of smart tablets. Older adults also requested one-on-one support, assistance, and topic specific learning for future training sessions. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies should focus on providing detailed, clear instructions at an acceptable pace for older adults.

Vascular Electrical Stimulation with Wireless, Battery-Free, and Fully Implantable Features Reduces Atherosclerotic Plaque Formation Through Sirt1-Mediated Autophagy.

Electrical stimulation (ES) is a safe and effective procedure in clinical rehabilitation with few adverse effects. However, studies on ES for atherosclerosis (AS) are scarce because ES does not provide a long-term intervention for chronic disease processes. Battery-free implants and surgically mounted them in the abdominal aorta of high-fat-fed Apolipoprotein E (ApoE-/- ) mice are used, which are electrically stimulated for four weeks using a wireless ES device to observe changes in atherosclerotic plaques. Results showed that there is almost no growth of atherosclerotic plaque at the stimulated site in AopE-/- mice after ES. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of Thp-1 macrophages reveal that the transcriptional activity of autophagy-related genes increase substantially after ES. Additionally, ES reduces lipid accumulation in macrophages by restoring ABCA1- and ABCG1-mediated cholesterol efflux. Mechanistically, it is demonstrated that ES reduced lipid accumulation through Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1)/Autophagy related 5 (Atg5) pathway-mediated autophagy. Furthermore, ES reverse autophagic dysfunction in macrophages of AopE-/- mouse plaques by restoring Sirt1, blunting P62 accumulation, and inhibiting the secretion of interleukin (IL)-6, resulting in the alleviation of atherosclerotic lesion formation. Here, a novel approach is shown in which ES can be used as a promising therapeutic strategy for AS treatment through Sirt1/Atg5 pathway-mediated autophagy.

Fatty acids metabolism affects the therapeutic effect of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 in tumor immune microenvironment in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a highly invasive and metastatic subtype of kidney malignancy and is correlated with metabolic reprogramming for adaptation to the tumor microenvironment comprising infiltrated immune cells and immunomodulatory molecules. The role of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and their association with abnormal fatty acids metabolism in ccRCC remains poorly understood. METHOD: RNA-seq and clinical data of KIRC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and E-MTAB-1980 from the ArrayExpress dataset. The Nivolumab group and Everolimus group of the CheckMate 025 study, the Atezolizumab arm of IMmotion150 and the Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab group of IMmotion151 cohort were obtained for subsequent analysis. After differential expression genes identification, the signature was constructed through univariate Cox proportional hazard regression and simultaneously the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) analysis and the predictive performance of our signature was assessed by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC), Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival analysis, nomogram, drug sensitivity analysis, immunotherapeutic effect analysis and enrichment analysis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), qPCR and western blot were performed to measure related mRNA or protein expression. Biological features were evaluated by wound healing, cell migration and invasion assays and colony formation test and analyzed using coculture assay and flow cytometry. RESULTS: Twenty fatty acids metabolism-related mRNA signatures were constructed in TCGA and possessed a strong predictive performance demonstrated through time-dependent ROC and KM survival analysis. Notably, the high-risk group exhibited an impaired response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 (Programmed death-1 receptor/Programmed death-1 receptor-ligand) therapy compared to the low-risk group. The overall levels of the immune score were higher in the high-risk group. Additionally, drug sensitivity analysis observed that the model could effectively predict efficacy and sensitivity to chemotherapy. Enrichment analysis revealed that the IL6-JAK-STAT3 signaling pathway was a major pathway. IL4I1 could promote ccRCC cells' malignant features through JAK1/STAT3 signaling pathway and M2-like macrophage polarization. CONCLUSION: The study elucidates that targeting fatty acids metabolism can affect the therapeutic effect of PD-1/PD-L1 in TME and related signal pathways. The model can effectively predict the response to several treatment options, underscoring its potential clinical utility.

Directional amplified spontaneous emissions from Ag nanohole array with high diffraction orders.

Surface plasmon excitations in metallic hole arrays have been extensively studied in the context of light-matter interaction, since the generated Bloch surface plasmon polariton (Bloch-SPP) exhibits unique properties of nanoscale light confinement, near-field enhancements, and long-range metal surface propagation. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a plasmonic device that exhibits highly directional emission in visible light; using Ag film with a thickness of 100 nm deposited on a subwavelength porous alumina array as a plasmonic cavity, four-level rhodamine 6G (R6G) is selected as the gain material. It is suggested that a Bloch-SPP with high diffraction orders on a Ag nanohole array can generate a strong local electric field and a high Purcell factor at a nanohole edge. Moreover, directional five-fold enhanced amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) with polarization dependence is observed under a low threshold of 199.9 W/cm2 in the visible light region, which comes from the optical feedback provided by the 2D periodic nanohole array. This work opens up a wide range of applications for real-time tunable wavelength, controlled multimode laser, fluorescence detection, etc.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy weakens the prognostic value of the pathological tumor burden score for colorectal cancer liver metastases.

BACKGROUND: The pathological tumor burden score (TBS) has been proven to be a better risk stratification tool for liver metastasis of colorectal cancer than the traditional clinical risk score (CRS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the pathological tumor burden score in patients with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). METHODS: A total of 348 patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) who underwent curative hepatic resection were retrospectively enrolled from September 1999 to December 2016. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were conducted to identify the independent predictors of prognosis. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests were used to determine whether TBS has enough discriminatory ability under certain grouping. RESULTS: Patients who received NAC had a higher median TBS than patients who did not receive NAC (4.07 vs. 2.69, P < 0.001). Among patients who did not receive NAC, those with TBS > 3 showed a significantly worse 3-year RFS (41.1% vs. 63.6%, P < 0.001) and 3-year OS rate (73.3% vs. 84.1%, P = 0.003) than those with TBS ≤ 3. Among the patients who received NAC, those with TBS ≤ 3 or TBS > 3 showed comparable 3-year RFS (33.3% vs. 26.4%, P = 0.400) and 3-year OS rates (76.5% vs. 58.2%, P = 0.064) to those who did not. Regardless of the regimen and response to NAC, there was no significant difference about 3-year RFS and 3-year OS rates between the TBS ≤ 3 and TBS > 3 groups. CONCLUSION: Pathological TBS can be applied to predict the RFS and OS of patients suffering from CRLM who did not receive NAC. However, pathological TBS might not be regard as prognosis in patients who did receive NAC.

Parenting style in childhood and attitudes toward caregiving in adulthood: a qualitative study.

This study aims to explore how relationships with parents during childhood can influence an individual's attitude toward caregiving later in life. The qualitative data came from 47 respondents who care for adult loved ones, with a caregiver mean age of 46.7. The respondents reflected on their recent experience of providing care for their loved ones and how experiences with their caregivers growing up may have influenced their caregiving attitudes. Using a codebook thematic analysis, themes were generated linking childhood experiences to current attitudes toward caregiving. Themes included reciprocating good care, performing obligatory care, and stopping the generational transference of negative care. For most participants, providing quality care for adult loved ones happened regardless of whether the one's childhood experiences with caregivers were positive or negative. Knowledge about the impact of childhood experiences can help health professionals develop interventions to support family caregivers that consider childhood experiences with parents.

Suppressing Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Lytic Gene Expression and Replication by RNase P Ribozyme.

Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining illness, is caused by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), an oncogenic virus. In this study, we engineered ribozymes derived from ribonuclease P (RNase P) catalytic RNA with targeting against the mRNA encoding KSHV immediate early replication and transcription activator (RTA), which is vital for KSHV gene expression. The functional ribozyme F-RTA efficiently sliced the RTA mRNA sequence in vitro. In cells, KSHV production was suppressed with ribozyme F-RTA expression by 250-fold, and RTA expression was suppressed by 92-94%. In contrast, expression of control ribozymes hardly affected RTA expression or viral production. Further studies revealed both overall KSHV early and late gene expression and viral growth decreased because of F-RTA-facilitated suppression of RTA expression. Our results indicate the first instance of RNase P ribozymes having potential for use in anti-KSHV therapy.

On the Entropy and the Maximum Entropy Principle of Uncertain Variables.

A new variance formula is developed using the generalized inverse of an increasing function. Based on the variance formula, a new entropy formula for any uncertain variable is provided. Most of the entropy formulas in the literature are special cases of the new entropy formula. Using the new entropy formula, the maximum entropy distribution for unimodel entropy of uncertain variables is provided without using the Euler-Lagrange equation.

Observing a topological phase transition with deep neural networks from experimental images of ultracold atoms.

Although classifying topological quantum phases have attracted great interests, the absence of local order parameter generically makes it challenging to detect a topological phase transition from experimental data. Recent advances in machine learning algorithms enable physicists to analyze experimental data with unprecedented high sensitivities, and identify quantum phases even in the presence of unavoidable noises. Here, we report a successful identification of topological phase transitions using a deep convolutional neural network trained with low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) experimental data obtained in a symmetry-protected topological system of spin-orbit-coupled fermions. We apply the trained network to unseen data to map out a whole phase diagram, which predicts the positions of the two topological phase transitions that are consistent with the results obtained by using the conventional method on higher SNR data. By visualizing the filters and post-convolutional results of the convolutional layer, we further find that the CNN uses the same information to make the classification in the system as the conventional analysis, namely spin imbalance, but with an advantage concerning SNR. Our work highlights the potential of machine learning techniques to be used in various quantum systems.

Shaping autofocusing Airy beams through the modification of Fourier spectrum.

A new type of Airy beam arisen from the modification of Fourier spectrum is introduced numerically and experimentally. The autofocusing Airy beam (AAB) exhibits the features of off-axis autofocusing and transverse self-accelerating, producing a needle-like focus in the longitudinal direction and a tiny focal spot at the focusing plane. Furthermore, the focusing properties such as focusing position, focal spot size, focusing intensity and depth of focus can be adjusted by modulating parameters of the AAB. Experimental demonstrations of particle trapping and manipulation with the AAB are also presented. The number of trapped particles can be controlled by changing the focal spot size at the autofocusing plane. Our results offer practical applications in particle manipulation, fluorescent imaging technology, laser spectroscopy and so on.

Strong coupling between monolayer quantum emitter WS2 and degenerate/non-degenerate surface lattice resonances.

Strong light-matter coupling manifested by Rabi splitting has drawn considerable interest owing to its fundamental significance for impressive interaction enhancement in the fields of ultrafast active plasmonic devices and quantum information. In this paper, we investigate the coherent optical properties of a plasmonic system consisting of periodic metal nanoparticle arrays covered by a WS2 thin film of atomic layer thickness. The coupling factor, energy splitting, and temporal dynamics of this coherent coupling phenomenon are quantitatively revealed by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation and a full quantum mechanical model proves that the exciton behavior of the fermionic quantum emitter WS2 is carefully modulated by bosonic surface lattice resonances. This work may pave the way for coherent modulation of polariton and plasmon devices and can potentially open up diverse exciting possibilities like nanoscale light sources, single-photon emitters, and all-optical transistors.

Dwarf mice as models for reproductive ageing research.

Dwarf mice are characterized by extremely long lifespan, delayed ovarian ageing, altered metabolism, lower age-related oxidative damage and cancer incidence rate. Snell dwarf, Ames dwarf and growth hormone receptor knockout mice are three commonly used models. Despite studies focusing on ageing and metabolism, the reproductive features of female dwarf mice have also attracted interest over the last decade. Female Snell and Ames dwarf mice have regular oestrous cycles and ovulation rates, as in normal mice, but with a larger ovarian reserve and delayed ovarian ageing. The primordial follicle reserve in dwarf mice is greater than in normal littermates. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentration is seven times higher in Ames dwarf mice than in their normal siblings, and ovarian transcriptomic profiling showed distinctive patterns in older Ames dwarf mice, especially enriched in inflammatory and immune response-related pathways. In addition, microRNA profiles also showed distinctive differences in Ames dwarf mice compared with normal control littermates. This review aims to summarize research progress on dwarf mice as models in the reproductive ageing field. Investigations focusing on the mechanisms of their reserved reproductive ability are much needed and are expected to provide additional molecular biological bases for the clinical practice of reproductive medicine in women.