Transcriptomic analysis of the HPG axis-related tissues reveals potential candidate genes and regulatory pathways associated with testicular size in Hu sheep.

Testicular size is an excellent proxy for selecting high-fertility rams. The hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis plays an important role in regulating reproductive capacity in vertebrates, while key genes and regulatory pathways within the HPG axis associated with testicular size remain largely unknown in sheep. This study comprehensively compared the transcriptomic profiles in the hypothalamus, pituitary and testis of rams after sexual maturity between the large-testis group (LTG, testicular weight = 454.29 ± 54.24 g) and the small-testis group (STG, testicular weight = 77.29 ± 10.76 g). In total, 914, 795 and 10518 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the hypothalamus, pituitary and testis between LTG and STG, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses showed that these DEGs were mainly involved in the biological processes of reproduction, biological regulation, and development process. Notably, the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and cAMP signaling pathways, commonly enriched by the DEGs in the hypothalamus and pituitary between two groups, were considered as two key signal pathways regulating testicular development through the HPGs axis. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified two modules that were significantly associated with testicular size, and 97 key genes were selected with high module membership (MM) and gene significance (GS) in these two modules. Finally, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed, and ten genes with the highest degree were represented as hub genes, including FOS, NPY, SST, F2, AGT, NTS, OXT, EDN1, VIP and TAC1. Taken together, these results provide new insights into the molecular mechanism underlying the HPG axis regulating testicular size of Hu sheep.

Areca Thirteen Pill Improves Depression in Rat by Modulation of the Chemokine/Chemokine Receptor Axis.

Depressive disorder is a severe and complex mental illness. There are a few anti-depressive medications that can reduce depressive symptoms, but with adverse or side effects. GaoYou-13 (GY-13), commonly known as Areca Thirteen Pill, is a traditional medicine for depression treatment with significant clinical impact. However, the molecular mechanism of GY-13 has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to explore and explain the action and mechanism of GY-13 in treatment for depression. SD male rats were stimulated differently daily for 42 days to construct a depression rat model and divided into six groups: the control, CUMS model, GY-13L, GY-13 M, GY-13H, and FLUO. The body weight of was measured on day 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 or different days, and the behavioral tests (Open-field test, Sucrose preference test, Morris water maze) were made alongside. After the rats were decapitated, the rat brains were stained with Nissl or H&E dyes. The serums of TNF-α and IL-1ß were tested. The protein of p-IKKα, p-IкBα, and p-NFкBp65 was traced. Then nano-LC-MS/MS analysis was made to detect the mechanism of GY-13. The active ingredients, drug targets, and key pathways of GY-13 in treating depression were analyzed through network pharmacology and molecular docking. With immunohistochemistry, quantitative RT-PCR, and western-blot techniques, the therapeutic mechanism of GY-13 was traced and analyzed. This study revealed that GY-13 significantly enhances autonomous and exploratory behavior, sucrose consumption, learning and memory ability, and hippocampal neuronal degeneration, which inhibits inflammation. In addition, omics analysis showed several proteins were altered in the hippocampus of rats following CUMS and GY-13 treatment. Bioinformatics analysis and network pharmacology revealed the antidepressant effects of GY-13 are related to the chemokine/chemokine receptor axis. Immunohistochemistry, western blotting and RT-PCR assay further support the findings of omics analysis. We highlighted the importance of the chemokine/chemokine receptor axis in the treatment of depression, as well as showed GY-13 can be used as a novel targeted therapy for depression treatment.

FLOURY ENDOSPERM19 encoding a class I glutamine amidotransferase affects grain quality in rice.

As a staple food for more than half of the world's population, the importance of rice is self-evident. Compared with ordinary rice, rice cultivars with superior eating quality and appearance quality are more popular with consumers due to their unique taste and ornamental value, even if their price is much higher. Appearance quality and CEQ (cooking and eating quality) are two very important aspects in the evaluation of rice quality. Here, we performed a genome-wide association study on floury endosperm in a diverse panel of 533 cultivated rice accessions. We identified a batch of potential floury genes and prioritize one (LOC_Os03g48060) for functional analyses. Two floury outer endosperm mutants (flo19-1 and flo19-2) were generated through editing LOC_Os03g48060 (named as FLO19 in this study), which encodes a class I glutamine amidotransferase. The different performances of the two mutants in various storage substances directly led to completely different changes in CEQ. The mutation of FLO19 gene caused the damage of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in rice, which affected the normal growth and development of rice, including decreased plant height and yield loss by decreased grain filling rate. Through haplotype analysis, we identified a haplotype of FLO19 that can improve both CEQ and appearance quality of rice, Hap2, which provides a selection target for rice quality improvement, especially for high-yield indica rice varieties. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-021-01226-z.

Identification and Evaluation of Cytotoxicity of Peptide Liposome Incorporated Citron Extracts in an in Vitro System.

Abstract: Citrons have been widely used for medicinal purposes for a long time, but the application of citron in the food industry is still restricted. The extensive advantages of nanotechnology in the food industry have greatly broadened the application of foods. In this study, by employing nanotechnology, we prepared citron-extract nanoparticle with an average size of 174.11 ± 3.89 nm, containing protein peptide and/or liposome. In order to evaluate the toxicity of nanoparticles and to ensure food safety, biological cytotoxicity at the cell and genomic levels was also identified to examine the toxicity of citron extracts by using an in vitro system. Our results demonstrated that the cytotoxicity of citronliposome was dependent on cell type in high concentrations (1 and 5 mg/mL), selectively against primary human cardiac progenitor cells (hCPCs), and human endothelial progenitor cells (hEPCs) in MTT and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays. Interestingly, for the NIH-3T3 and H9C2 cell lines, cell cytotoxicity was observed with slight genotoxicity, especially from citronpeptide extract for both cell lines. Taken together, our study provides cytotoxicity data on nanoengineered citron extracts according to different cell type as is crucial for further applications.