DdCBE mediates efficient and inheritable modifications in mouse mitochondrial genome.

Critical mutations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) generally lead to maternally inheritable diseases that affect multiple organs and systems; however, it was difficult to alter mtDNA in mammalian cells to intervene in or cure mitochondrial disorders. Recently, the discovery of DddA-derived cytosine base editor (DdCBE) enabled the precise manipulation of mtDNA. To test its feasibility for in vivo use, we selected several sites in mouse mtDNA as DdCBE targets to resemble the human pathogenic mtDNA G-to-A mutations. The efficiency of DdCBE-mediated mtDNA editing was first screened in mouse Neuro-2A cells and DdCBE pairs with the best performance were chosen for in vivo targeting. Microinjection of the mRNAs of DdCBE halves in the mouse zygotes or 2-cell embryo successfully generated edited founder mice with a base conversion rate ranging from 2.48% to 28.51%. When backcrossed with wild-type male mice, female founders were able to transmit the mutations to their offspring with different mutation loads. Off-target analyses demonstrated a high fidelity for DdCBE-mediated base editing in mouse mtDNA both in vitro and in vivo. Our study demonstrated that the DdCBE is feasible for generation of mtDNA mutation models to facilitate disease study and for potential treatment of mitochondrial disorders.

Efficiency comparison of B6(Cg)-Tyrc-2j /J and C57BL/6NTac embryos as hosts for the generation of knockout mice.

Careful selection of the host embryo is critical to the efficient production of knockout (KO) mice when injecting mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells into blastocysts. B6(Cg)-Tyrc-2j/J (B6 albino) and C57BL/6NTac (B6NTac) strains of mice are widely used to produce host blastocysts for such procedures. Here, we tested these two strains to identify an appropriate match for modified agouti C57BL/6N (JM8A3.N1) mES cells. When comparing blastocyst yield, super-ovulated B6NTac mice produced more injectable blastocysts per female than B6 albino mice (8.2 vs. 5.4). There was no significant difference in birth rate when injected embryos were transferred to the same pseudopregnant recipient strain. However, the live birth rate was significantly higher for B6NTac blastocysts than B6 albino blastocysts (62.7% vs. 50.2%). In addition, the proportion of pups exhibiting high-level and complete chimerism, as identified by coat color, was also significantly higher in the B6NTac strain. There was no obvious difference in the efficiency of germline transmission (GLT) when compared between B6NTac and B6 albino host embryos (61.5% vs. 63.3% for mES clones; 64.5% vs. 67.9% for genes, respectively), thus suggesting that an equivalent GLT rate could be obtained with only a few blastocyst injections for B6NTac embryos. In conclusion, our data indicate that B6NTac blastocysts are a better choice for the microinjection of JM8A3.N1 mES cells than B6 albino blastocysts.

Efficient Gene Silencing by Adenine Base Editor-Mediated Start Codon Mutation.

Traditional CRISPR/Cas9-based gene knockouts are generated by introducing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), but this may cause excessive DNA damage or cell death. CRISPR-based cytosine base editors (CBEs) and adenine base editors (ABEs) can facilitate C-to-T or A-to-G exchanges, respectively, without DSBs. CBEs have been employed in a gene knockout strategy: CRISPR-STOP or i-STOP changes single nucleotides to induce in-frame stop codons. However, this strategy is not applicable for some genes, and the unwanted mutations in CBE systems have recently been reported to be surprisingly significant. As a variant, the ABE systems mediate precise editing and have only rare unwanted mutations. In this study, we implemented a new strategy to induce gene silencing (i-Silence) with an ABE-mediated start codon mutation from ATG to GTG or ACG. Using both in vitro and in vivo model systems, we showed that the i-Silence approach is efficient and precise for producing a gene knockout. In addition, the i-Silence strategy can be employed to analyze ~17,804 human genes and can be used to mimic 147 kinds of pathogenic diseases caused by start codon mutations. Altogether, compared to other methods, the ABE-based i-Silence method is a safer gene knockout strategy, and it has promising application potential.

Cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Pyrenochaeta unguis-hominis in a diabetic patient: A case report.

Phaeohyphomycosis, caused by opportunistic rare fungi, has increasingly been reported in diabetic and immunosuppressed patients. Pyrenochaeta unguis-hominis (P. unguis-hominis), a member of the dematiaceae group, has been identified to cause human nail infection. We report a rare case of cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis in a diabetic female caused by P. unguis-hominis.

Growth and heavy metal accumulation of Koelreuteria paniculata seedlings and their potential for restoring manganese mine wastelands in Hunan, China.

The planting of trees on mine wastelands is an effective, long-term technique for phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated wastes. In this study, a pot experiment with seedlings of Koelreuteria paniculata under six treatments of local mine wastes was designed to determine the major constraints on tree establishment and to evaluate the feasibility of planting K. paniculata on manganese mine wastelands. Results showed that K. paniculata grew well in mine tailings, and also under a regime of equal amounts of mine tailings and soil provided in adjacent halves of pots. In contrast, mine sludge did not favor survival and growth because its clay texture limited fine root development. The bio-concentration factor and the translocation factor were mostly less than 1, indicating a low phytoextraction potential for K. paniculata. K. paniculata is suited to restore manganese mine sludge by mixing the mine sludge with local mine tailings or soil.

Needle-free injection of 5-aminolevulinic acid in photodynamic therapy for the treatment of condylomata acuminata.

The external application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) in photodynamic therapy (PDT) results in a shallow penetration depth in thick or extensive condylomata acuminata (CA) lesions, thus demonstrating a poor therapeutic effect for those patients. To compare the efficacy of needle-free injection with external application of ALA in PDT for the treatment of CA, 160 CA patients with thick or extensive warts received ALA-PDT by means of external application or needle-free injection of ALA, respectively. The complete response (CR) rate and recurrence rate in the two groups were analyzed. The CR rate after the first treatment in the needle-free injection group (68.8%) was significantly higher compared with that in the external application group (52.5%; P=0.035). The recurrence rates in the needle-free injection group and external application group were 4.1 and 15.4%, respectively (P=0.022). The needle-free injection of ALA increases the therapeutic effect of PDT for CA patients with thick or extensive lesions. It shortens the treatment time and reduces the recurrence rate, and has great potential in the treatment of CA.

Xenogeneic immunosuppression of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in a major histocompatibility complex-mismatched allogeneic acute graft-versus-host disease murine model.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold great promise for treating immune disorders owing to their immunoregulatory capacity, but the mechanism remains controversial. As we show here, the mechanism of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (HUCMSC)-mediated immunosuppression involves TGF-ß and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). In this study, we investigated the influence of xenogeneic HUCMSCs on acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in murine allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). In the HUCMSC-treated group, lethally irradiated DBA/2(H-2Kd) mice were adoptively transferred with expanded HUCMSCs, bone marrow (BM), and splenocytes (SCs) from C57BL/6 (H-2Kb) mice. Recipients in the control group were transferred only BM and SCs. The two groups were compared in survival, weight, histopathologic specimens, and aGVHD scoring. In the HUCMSC-treated group, 60% of the mice survived past day 30 after BMT, but in the control group, all mice died within 18 d. The mice treated with HUCMSCs exhibited light symptoms of aGVHD after day 30. The results suggest that xenogeneic HUCMSCs could alleviate aGVHD symptoms and prolong survival after allogeneic BMT. Our study suggests that in vitro expanded HUCMSCs might be used to inhibit severe aGVHD effectively in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation clinically.

[A proliminary study on the regulatory function of human plasma exosomes-like vesicles].

OBJECTIVE: To identify the exosomes-like vesicles from the plasma and study their biologic characteristics and regulatory effect. METHODS: The exosomes-like vesicles were purified from healthy donors plasma with a series of high-speed centrifugations and ultrafiltration. Morphology was identified by transmission electron microscopy and biologic characteristics by Western blot and flow cytometry. CD4(+)T cells and CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127low Treg cells were purified from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by Magnetic cell sorting. After exosomes-like vesicles cultured with CD4(+)T cells or CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127low Treg cells, cell proliferation and apoptosis were assayed. Phosphorylated ß-catenin level in Wnt signaling by phosflow. RESULTS: Exosomes-like vesicles from plasma were similar to previously described exosomes in shapes and size and expressed exosome marker proteins CD63 and CD81 as well as the MHC-II molecule, costimulatory molecules CD86 etc. After co-cultured with CD4(+) T cells, exosomes-like vesicles inhibited the proliferation of the T cells in a dose-dependent manner. After Treg cells cultured with exosomes-like vesicles for 14 days, the survival rate of the Treg cells was 57.07%, while that of the control Treg was 30.91%. Frizzled receptors 2, 3, 4and LRP6 gene mRNA expressed (the relative gray value was 48.50, 34.84, 23.85, 49.73) in the Treg cells by RT-PCR, and Wnt molecular expressed in exosomes-like vesicles. After Treg cells co-cultured with exosomes-like vesicles, the MFI of phosphorylated ß-catenin decreased (from 20.06 ± 2.99 to 12.41 ± 2.08), and the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA was upregulated significantly (the relative gray value from 0.45 to 84.97). CONCLUSIONS: Exosomes-like vesicles existed in human plasma and express immune regulatory molecules. They can suppress the proliferation of activated CD4(+) T cells induce their apoptosis and pro-long the survival of natural Treg cells via Wnt signaling pathway.