Identification of differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs and messenger RNAs involved with muscle development in Dazu black goats through RNA sequencing.

This study aimed to explore the genetic basis of muscle development in goats. The transcriptome dataset for differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of goat muscle at different developmental stages were obtained using RNA-Seq. A total of 447,806,481 and 587,559,465 clean reads in the longissimus dorsi muscle of Dazu black goats between 75d embryonic stage and 1d after birth were generated through Illumina paired-end sequencing, and their mapping rates were 89.82 and 90.99%, respectively. Moreover, 4517 DEGs and 648 DELs were identified, and 4784 lncRNA-mRNA targeting relationships were predicted. Gene function annotation results showed that 4101 DEGs were significantly enriched to 1098 GO terms, and 2014 DEGs were significantly enriched to 40 KEGG pathways, including many GO terms and pathways related to muscle development, such as cell differentiation and Wnt signaling pathway. Then, 10 DELs and 20 DEGs were randomly selected for RT-qPCR verification, and the agreement rate between the verification and RNA-Seq results was 90%, indicating the high reliability of the RNA-Seq data analysis. In conclusion, this study obtained several mRNAs and lncRNAs related to the muscle development of Dazu black goats and identified several targeted regulatory pairs of lncRNA-mRNA. This study may serve as a reference to understand the genetic basis and molecular mechanism of muscle development in goats.

Nanoarchitectonics in the Ionothermal Synthesis for Nucleation of Crystalline Potassium Poly (heptazine imide) Towards an Enhanced Solar-Driven H2 O2 Production.

Solar-driven selective oxygen reduction reaction on polymeric carbon nitride framework is one of the most promising approaches toward sustainable H2 O2 production. Potassium poly(heptazine imide) (PHI), with regular metal sites in the framework and favorable crystalline structure, is highly active for photocatalytic selective 2e oxygen reduction to produce H2 O2 . By introducing NH4 Cl into the eutectic KCl-LiCl salt mixture, the PHI framework exhibits a remarkable performance for photocatalytic production of H2 O2 , for example, a record high H2 O2 photo-production rate of 29.5 µmol h-1  mg-1 . The efficient photocatalytic performance is attributed to the favorable properties of the new PHI framework, such as improved porosity, negatively shifted LUMO position, enhanced exciton dissociation and charges migration properties. A mechanistic investigation by quenching and electron spin resonance technique reveals the critical role of superoxide radicals for the formation singlet oxygen, and the singlet oxygen is one of the critical intermediates towards the formation of the H2 O2 by proton extraction from the ethanol.

Hydration and mechanical properties of arabinoxylan, (1,3;1,4)-ß-glucan, and cellulose multilayer films simulating the cell wall of wheat endosperm.

The cell walls of wheat endosperm, which play a pivotal role in seed germination, exhibit a laminated structure primarily composed of polysaccharides. In this study, composite multilayer films were prepared using arabinoxylan (AX), (1,3;1,4)-ß-D-glucan (MLG), and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), and the effect of polymer blend structure on cell wall hydration and mechanical properties was investigated. Atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction indicated that the network structure of MLG/CNF exhibits a higher degree of continuity and uniformity compared to that of AX/CNF. Mechanically, the extensive linkages between MLG and CNFs chains enhance the mechanical properties of the films. Moreover, water diffusion experiments and TD-NMR analysis revealed that water molecules diffuse faster in the network structure formed by AX. We propose a structural model of the endosperm cell wall, in which the CNFs polymer blend coated with MLG serves as the framework, and the AX network fills the gaps between them, providing diffusion channels for water molecules.

Zhuang-Gu-Fang promotes osteoblast differentiation via myoblasts and myoblast-derived exosomal miRNAs:miR-5100, miR-126a-3p, miR-450b-5p, and miR-669a-5p.

BACKGROUND: Senile osteoporosis (SOP) is an age-related systemic metabolic bone disorder. Previous studies have proved that Zhuang-Gu-Fang (ZGF) modulates myokines, stimulates osteogenic differentiation, and mitigates osteoporosis. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the mechanism by which ZGF promotes osteogenic differentiation via myoblast and myoblast exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) and investigate its potential implications in senile osteoporosis. METHODS: Characterization of ZGF and ZGF serum using UHPLC-MS/MS. An alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay and staining techniques were employed to corroborate the impacts of ZGF on the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) via myoblasts. Subsequently, exosomes derived from myoblasts were isolated through ultracentrifugation. The effects of ZGF on the BMSCs' osteogenic differentiation were substantiated through ALP activity, alizarin red staining, and a quantitative real-time polymerase reaction system (qRT-PCR). Selected miRNAs were identified via high-throughput sequencing and subjected to differential expression analysis, and subsequently validated through qRT-PCR. The senescence-accelerated (SAMP6) mice were selected as the SOP models. qRT-PCR analyses were further conducted to confirm the expression levels of these selected miRNAs in the muscle and bone tissues of the SAMP6 mice, and the protein expression of osteogenesis-related transcription factors OCN and Osterix in its bone tissue was evaluated by immunofluorescence staining analysis (IF). RESULTS: ZGF may enhance the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs through myoblasts and myoblast-derived exosomes. High-throughput sequencing, differential expression analysis, and subsequent qRT-PCR validation identified four miRNAs that stood out due to their significant differential expression: miR-5100, miR-142a-3p, miR-126a-3p, miR-450b-5p and miR-669a-5p. Moreover, the mice experiment corroborated these findings, which revealed that ZGF not only up-regulated the expression of miR-5100, miR-450b-5p and miR-126a-3p in muscle and bone tissues but also concurrently down-regulated the expression of miR-669a-5p in these tissues. IF staining analysis indicated that ZGF can significantly increase the protein expression of the osteogenic transcription factors OCN and Osterix in the bone tissue of mice with SOP. CONCLUSIONS: ZGF can promote osteogenic differentiation of osteoblasts, regulate bone metabolism, and thereby delay the process of SOP. Perhaps, its mechanism is to upregulate myoblast-derived exosomes miR-5100, miR-126a-3p, and miR-450b-5p or downregulate miR-669a-5p. This study reports for the first time that myoblast exosomes miR-669a-5p and miR-450b-5p are novel targets for the regulation of osteoblastic differentiation and the treatment of SOP.

Characteristics of the composite film of arabinoxylan and starch granules in simulated wheat endosperm.

We found that cell wall components of wheat grains differed significantly across different grain-filling stages; specifically, we observed significant differences in water content and water migration rate (p < 0.05). A composite film of arabinoxylan and starch granules was prepared to simulate wheat endosperm structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the crystallinity and structural stability of the film increased with increasing starch content. Water diffusion experiments of the films revealed that the water diffusion rate gradually decreased with increasing starch content. Therefore, the water mobility of the starch endosperm was lower than that of the aleurone layer. These findings provide a basis for further studies in the context of wheat grain water regulation.

Nanoarchitecture Manipulation by Polycondensation on KCl Crystals toward Crystalline Lamellar Carbon Nitride for Efficient H2O2 Photoproduction.

A lamellar carbon nitride (CN) framework is one of the most promising materials for solar-driven hydrogen peroxide production. The low dielectric constant of the organic CN framework leads to severe recombination of the excitons, and the photon-to-chemical conversion efficiency is thus unsatisfactory. In this work, by polycondensation of the small molecules on the KCl crystal surface, K+-incorporated crystalline CN (CNK) frameworks show significantly extended periodicity of the stacking layers and in-plane orderly organized heptazine/triazine units. The crystalline CNK frameworks exhibit a series of favorable photophysical properties, such as enhanced photon absorption, negatively shifted LUMO potentials, and attenuated emissive decay of the excitons. The CNK frameworks thus present remarkable performance in the photocatalytic selective oxygen reduction reaction for hydrogen peroxide production, e.g., CNK framework from the polycondensation of NH4SCN on the KCl surface could produce hydrogen peroxide at a remarkable reaction rate of 26.7 mmol h-1 g-1 with a high apparent quantum yield of 25.0%, which is 23.5 times that on its counterpart synthesized in the absence of KCl. This method is generally applicable to all of the precursors for CN synthesis.

Ginsenoside Rg1 interferes with the progression of diabetic osteoporosis by promoting type H angiogenesis modulating vasculogenic and osteogenic coupling.

Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) has been demonstrated to have antidiabetic and antiosteoporotic activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of Rg1 against diabetic osteoporosis and the underlying mechanism. In vitro, we found that Rg1 increased the number of osteoprogenitors and alleviated high glucose (HG) induced apoptosis of osteoprogenitors by MTT assays and flow cytometry. qRT‒PCR and western blot analysis suggested that Rg1 can also promote the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by osteoprogenitors and promote the coupling of osteogenesis and angiogenesis. Rg1 can also promote the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cultured in high glucose, enhance the angiogenic ability of endothelial cells, and activate the Notch pathway to promote endothelial cells to secrete the osteogenesis-related factor Noggin to regulate osteogenesis, providing further feedback coupling of angiogenesis and osteogenesis. Therefore, we speculated that Rg1 may have similar effects on type H vessels. We used the Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat model to perform immunofluorescence staining analysis on two markers of type H vessels, Endomucin (Emcn) and CD31, and the osteoblast-specific transcription factor Osterix, and found that Rg1 stimulates type H angiogenesis and bone formation. In vivo experiments also demonstrated that Rg1 promotes VEGF secretion, activates the Noggin/Notch pathway, increases the level of coupling between type H vessels and osteogenesis, and improves the bone structure of GK rats. All of these data reveal that Rg1 is a promising candidate drug for treating diabetic osteoporosis as a potentially bioactive molecule that promotes angiogenesis and osteointegration coupling.

Genetic Basis of Follicle Development in Dazu Black Goat by Whole-Transcriptome Sequencing.

The follicle development (FD) is an important factor determining litter size in animals. Recent studies have found that noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) play an important role in FD. In particular, the role of the regulatory mechanism of competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) that drive FD has attracted increasing attention. Therefore, this study explored the genetic basis of goat FD by obtaining the complete follicular transcriptome of Dazu black goats at different developmental stages. Results revealed that 128 messenger RNAs (mRNAs), 4 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), 49 microRNAs (miRNAs), and 290 circular RNAs (circRNAs) were significantly differentially expressed (DE) between large and small follicles. Moreover, DEmRNAs were enriched in many signaling pathways related to FD, as well as GO terms related to molecular binding and enzyme activity. Based on the analysis of the ceRNA network (CRN), 34 nodes (1 DElncRNAs, 10 DEcircRNAs, 14 DEmiRNAs, and 9 DEmRNAs) and 35 interactions (17 DEcircRNAs-DEmRNAs, 2 DElncRNAs-DEmiRNAs, and 16 DEmRNA-DEmiRNAs) implied that the CRN could be involved in the FD of goats. In conclusion, we described gene regulation by DERNAs and lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-mRNA CRNs in the FD of goats. This study provided insights into the genetic basis of FD in precise transcriptional regulation.

Heterogeneous water supply affects growth and benefits of clonal integration between co-existing invasive and native Hydrocotyle species.

Spatial patchiness and temporal variability in water availability are common in nature under global climate change, which can remarkably influence adaptive responses of clonal plants, i.e. clonal integration (translocating resources between connected ramets). However, little is known about the effects of spatial patchiness and temporal heterogeneity in water on growth and clonal integration between congeneric invasive and native Hydrocotyle species. In a greenhouse experiment, we subjected severed or no severed (intact) fragments of Hydrocotyle vulgaris, a highly invasive species in China, and its co-existing, native congener H. sibthorpioides to different spatial patchiness (homogeneous and patchy) and temporal interval (low and high interval) in water supply. Clonal integration had significant positive effects on growth of both species. In the homogeneous water conditions, clonal integration greatly improved the growth in fragments of both species under low interval in water. However, in the patchy water conditions, clonal integration significantly increased growth in both ramets and fragments of H. vulgaris under high interval in water. Therefore, spatial patchiness and temporal interval in water altered the effects of clonal integration of both species, especially for H. vulgaris. The adaptation of H. vulgaris might lead to invasive growth and potential spread under the global water variability.